Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“There’s no doubt about it. Our next destination is that island!” Exclaimed Nami, watching the needle on the log pose point to an island barely visible on the horizon.

Luffy threw his arm in the air before shouting, far too loudly given how close they all were, “Our second island on the Grand Line!”.

The crew was slowly getting closer to the island that Miss All Sunday had called Little Garden, and they could already see that most of it was covered in trees forming a thick jungle, with a huge volcano on the background and a few other smaller volcanoes on the outside. Two huge skulls which put together were easily half the size of the island rested on each side.

“We should be careful.” Started Vivi, “I’m worried about what Miss All Sunday said…” The warning about them not surviving the island was still clear on her mind.

“Y-you don’t think there are monsters here, do you?” Asked Usopp, his knees shaking slightly in fear, his mind following the same path as Vivi’s.

“We gotta stock up on food pretty soon, I wasn’t able to restock at all at the last town.” Said Sanji, clearly not at all worrying. “But man, just look at this place… It’s like a land yet to be explored by people. The entire island is a thick jungle.”

“So this is Little Garden…” Whispered Nami, clearly worried. If the second island that they met on the Grand Line looked to be inhabited, it clearly didn’t bode well for them. Her mind conjured various reasons to explain why nobody seemed to be alive here, and none of them were good. “I can’t say I see anything that would deserve such a cute name like that though.” She continued, looking at the jungle surrounding them. The trees were easily thrice as tall as Merry, and were looming over them.

“Just what about this island is little?” Asked Ussop.

“And look!” Exclaimed Nami while observing the vegetation around them. “I’ve never seen any plants like these even in my encyclopedia!” The plants were all larger than expected and didn’t look like any other type of plant she knew. Suddenly, a loud and strange sound made her flinch, and she instinctively tried to hide. “What was that just now?” She shouted.

“Terrified Nami is so cute!” Swooned Sanji, before trying to reassure her. “Don’t worry, it’s just a normal bird. And even this island is nothing but your average jungle.” He said confidently, turning around to reassure her and turning his back to the jungle.

Which proved to be a mistake, when a few seconds later a huge creature that looked like a lizard, but with wings, passed just behind him. Nobody had time to react before a loud boom echoed through the jungle, the sound so loud that it made the ship vibrate.

“Does this sound like your average jungle?” Asked a terrified Nami, while Usopp exclaimed at the same time “That sounded like a volcano exploding or something!”

The island seemed to try to scare them, because they didn’t have the time to say more before a huge tiger appeared on the land just next to the river they were sailing in, before dropping dead.

“I don’t care what anyone says, that’s definitely not normal!” Shouted Nami. 

“Alright, then it’s decided. We are to not set foot on this island.” Said sagely Usopp, nodding his head.

“Let’s just quietly wait on our ship, and leave the very second our log pose finishes recording. After all, we have to hurry on to Alabasta as soon as possible.” Continued Nami.

However, her captain seemed to have a very different idea.

“Sanji, prepare a lunchbox!” He shouted, nearly vibrating with the need to go explore. “This island seems so interesting, I smell adventure ahead.” He said with a huge grin on his face.

Nami tried inefficiently to stop him, before being betrayed by Vivi who asked Luffy if she could go explore with him, which he quickly agreed to. Going on an adventure with friends and a lunchbox, he couldn’t think of anything better.

“I know that if I stay on the ship without doing anything, I’ll just keep worrying about Alabasta.” The princess explained after seeing Nami’s betrayed look. “So I may as well go explore and try to think of something else until the log pose is set. I’ll be fine with Luffy and Karoo by my side.” She said with a smile to the shock of said duck who tried to protest, his shouts being covered by the shout of “Vivi!” coming from the kitchen. 

“Then allow me to make a lunchbox of love for you, Vivi-san.” Said Sanji smoothly, getting out of the kitchen just in time to offer his help to a lovely lady in need.

It took him a few minutes to get the food ready, and then Luffy, Karoo and Vivi on his back left the Merry to go explore. Seeing them leave seemed to spark something in Zoro, who quickly decided to go for a walk. It took less than ten seconds for him and Sanji to challenge each other to a hunting competition after he jumped off the deck, and both swordsman and cook left the ship insulting each other, to the despair of Nami and Usopp that were left behind.

~~One Piece~~

The cowardly duo fell on the floor next to each other, their back on the railing so they wouldn’t see the scary island. Nami hugged her knees in an effort to reassure herself. “I hate this, and I had a bad presentiment since Miss All Sunday mentioned Little Garden… Wait, now that I think about it, I feel like I’ve heard this name before. Wasn’t it in a book...” She stood up suddenly to go inside the ship and started searching through her small collection of books for the one she wanted. When she found it, however, she wished she didn’t. ‘To its inhabitants, this island is like a little garden. An island of Giants’, stated the book.

“Usopp!” She shouted, coming back outside running.

“Did you find where you’ve heard of it before?” He asked.

“We’re in trouble! On this island…” A huge shadow suddenly fell over them, and she stopped talking in shock. Slowly, the both of them turned their head and came face to face with the most terrifying sight they had ever seen before.

“Do you have any rum?”

~~One Piece~~

“Hey, check this out!” Shouted excitedly Luffy, before showing what he was holding to Vivi. “There’s a clam that looks like a squid! A clam-squid!”

Vivi dropped from Karoo’s back to get closer. “This looks like an ammonite if you ask me.” She started. “It’s strange, I didn’t think they were still alive.” She added pensively.

“What do you mean?” Asked Luffy while poking the now named clam-squid to see if it could go inside its shell. “This one is clearly alive.”

“Hm, well, I think I’ve read somewhere-” Started to say Vivi before stopping abruptly as she saw something moving from the corner of her eyes. Her eyes opened wide in fear when she saw what it was, and Luffy turned around to see what had made her react.

“Ah.” He said calmly. “Why is there a Sea King on land?” He asked, looking at the animal in front of him. It easily towered over the trees, the only part of its body they could see was its long neck. It had moved to grab a few leaves from one of the biggest trees around and was leisurely munching on them.

“That’s not a Sea King!” Shouted Vivi as soon as she had recovered from her shock. “It’s a dinosaur ” She dived to hide behind Karoo, the duck standing frozen in fear.

“A dinosaur?” Repeated Luffy. His habitual huge grin appeared on his face. “I’ve never eaten a dinosaur before.” He muttered, swallowing the small drop of saliva that had appeared at the corner of his mouth at the prospect of eating a creature as big as this one.

“It means that we’re on a prehistoric island.” Despaired Vivi.

“A prehiwhat?”

“Prehistoric. That island is still stuck in the age of dinosaurs. That’s a particularity of the Grand Line, not every island has access to the same level of technology. This one must have stopped evolving thousands of years ago, and we’re now on an island full of dinosaurs. ” She finished her explanation with a cry before turning toward Luffy to tell him that they must go back to the Merry, only for him to have disappeared from her side.

Before the thought that he must have been eaten could do more than cross her mind, her attention was grabbed back by a shout of “Awesome” coming from the dinosaur's direction. To her despair, she could see that Luffy had climbed most of its neck, and was looking around from his vantage point. “I can see almost all of the island from here!” He shouted.

He climbed up the few meters left and sat cross-legged at the top of the dinosaur’s head. “Wow, the view is really great.” He marveled. “I should start to eat my lunch here. Oh, I didn’t notice that there were that many volcanoes.” He grabbed his backpack and started to rummage through it, ignoring Vivi’s cry that he should get down and that it was dangerous. As if he hadn’t noticed that the dinosaur he was on was only eating leaves, and not meat. “I would have to beat you up if you started to eat my meat.” He muttered, patting the top of its head. “But we can be friends. I’ll give you all my vegetables.”

He finally found the particular box that he wanted to eat right now, Sanji having packed a few different boxes for him knowing that he would have eaten all in one seating if he hadn’t. Before he could get it out of his backpack, the head he was on suddenly twitched. “Wha-” The dinosaur moved his head back, throwing Luffy into the air. Before he could do more than extend one of his hands and grab his backpack, the dinosaur's teeth closed just above him.

He expanded his other hand, wanting to grab a tooth or something that would stop him from being eaten, when he felt a rush of air below him. His head snapped down, and instead of seeing the darkness of the dinosaur’s gut, he could see the top of the trees. He let himself fall down, surprised by what happened, but instead of falling on the ground, a huge hand appeared below him, stopping him.

“Whoah!” He exclaimed when he saw how big the hand that held him was.

A loud laugh reverberated through the forest around them, before the being holding him started talking. “Aren’t you a lively one! I haven’t had guests in over a year, and for at least a decade before he came.”

Luffy stood up, his eyes following the arm to reach the face of the man that had prevented him from being eaten. “You’re huge!” He shouted. The man was easily towering over the surrounding trees. “Are you human?”

“I’m a Giant!” Exclaimed the giant. “I am Elbaf’s strongest warrior, Dorry!” He presented himself with a laugh. “Let me invite you folks to my place.” He continued with a smile.

“A Giant!” Vivi’s cry attracted both of their attention. “This is my first time seeing one. AH! He spotted me!” She shouted.

~~One Piece~~

Both Nami and Usopp were openly crying, staring at the huge figure that towered above them.

“I asked you.” Repeated the giant, his huge smile not leaving his face. “If you have any rum.”

The voice managed to drag them out of their stupor, and the navigator stuttered, her voice coming out in a wail “W-we have a little.”

“So you do have some!” The giant said happily, crouching to be face to face with the two pirates. He suddenly shouted in pain, scaring the normal-sized humans. The giant looked back in rage, and the three of them could see that a T-Rex had bitten him in the ass. 

“A d-dinosaur…” Wailed Nami, tears of fear dripping down her face. “A giant and a dinosaur…” Usopp sobbed next to her.

The giant violently turned around and, swinging a huge battle axe, promptly decapitated the dinosaur.  He grabbed the dinosaur’s fallen head with his free hand, the other raising his axe high above his head.

“I am Elbaf’s strongest warrior, Brogy!” He introduced himself with a laugh. “I have some meat to go with your rum.” He said, stopping his posturing to look back at the two small humans. “Let me welcome you as my guest.”

He put his axe back on his hip, grabbed them both with his hand and started to walk back toward his camp. Nami and Usopp could only watch, frozen in fear, as the Merry disappeared behind them, each step from the giant taking them dozens of meters away.

It wasn’t long before he dropped them on the ground in front of a huge log, telling them to sit down while he started a fire. They sat on it and shared a desperate look, Nami clutching Usopp’s arm tightly.

“Did you see…” Hissed Usopp, his eyes darting left and right for a second before fixing themselves resolutely on the fire in front of them.

“Hmm hmm” Nodded Nami dejectedly. It was hard to miss all the skeletons surrounding them.

"There, eat this." Said Brogy, holding out a hunk of meat.

“We’re not hungry.” They said in sync. The giant was probably trying to fatten them up before eating them, and they weren’t going to make it easy for him. He didn't insist, and started to eat his own part.

When he started to slow down, almost all the meat gone, Nami felt that he had eaten enough that he wouldn't turn on them instantly. They still needed to escape, but they needed to time it right so when they ran back to the Merry they were able to immediately leave.

"Hmm, Mr. Brogy?" She started, gathering her courage. "How long does it take for the log pose to finish recording?"

"One year." Answered the giant, his smile not leaving his face even as his eyebrows rose when he saw the dread coming from the two small pirates.

~~One Piece~~

“This is really good, Mr. Giant.” Said Luffy, happily munching on the giant piece of meat that the giant had cooked from them.

“And your pirate lunchbox is pretty good, even if it is small.” Dorry answered just as happily, the piece of meat he was holding looking ridiculously small between his fingers.

“You bet it is!” Exclaimed Luffy, still smiling but his tone a little more serious. “I would have kicked your ass if you said it tasted bad. Sanji is the best chef.”

They both continued to laugh and eat, ignoring the shocked Vivi that watched them.

“Ne, why are you living alone here?” Asked Luffy. “Don’t you have a village to live in?”

“I have a home, but it's far away. The island I'm from is called Elbaf, it's the main island for us giants. The law there says that if two people have a disagreement and can't solve it, they have to fight to the death, and our god Elbaf will judge who is right and bestow divine protection on them to ensure their survival. I've gotten involved in a quarrel once on this island, and since then we have been using it as a battleground to determine who is right. But it has been one hundred years since we started fighting, and we just can’t seem to settle our duel!” He concluded with a booming laugh.

“You’ve been fighting for a hundred years?” Said Luffy, impressed.

“It may seem long for you, but the lifespan of a giant is three times as long as yours.”

“But how can you still fight after all this time?” Asked Vivi, before being interrupted by a huge explosion, the same one that they heard when they arrived at the island. “Are you trying to kill each other?” She insisted, before Dorry stood up on his feet.

“This explosion is the signal for battle.” He explained to Luffy.

“How can you hate each other so much that you tried to kill each other for a hundred years.” Continued Vivi, angry at being ignored, before Luffy silenced her with a hand on her mouth.

“It’s not about that anymore.” He started to explain.

“Yes, it’s about pride now.” Continued Dorry.

They could see a huge form appear on the other side of the island, and the two giants started running towards each other. “We forgot the reason for our clash ages ago!” Finally shouted Dorry, while bringing sharply his sword on Brogy’s head and parrying his fellow giant’s battleaxe with his shield.

The clash continued, each giant trying his best to kill the other, while at the same time none of them managing to really hit each other, too used to their fighting style not to anticipate each attack from their rival.

“Don’t you long for our home, Dorry?” Asked Brogy, after he parried a vicious slash from Dorry’s sword.

“That’s exactly why I’ll crush you today and leave for Elbaf victorious, Brogy!” Dorry shouted, before bringing his sword sharply forward and piercing the rock behind Brogy in a show of strength. The battle-axed giant managed to avoid the attack by jumping sharply into the air, using the opening to bring down his axe on the head of his rival. Dorry took the hit to the side of his helmet, managing to avoid it piercing his shoulder and his head.

“If he received that blow just a few centimeters off, it would have meant instant death!” Exclaimed Usopp from their place high above the ground on the side of one of the smaller volcanoes where Brogy had dropped them when the fight had started, half impressed and half afraid. “All of their attacks are aiming for each other’s most vital points.” He continued his analysis.

“It’s our chance to escape.” Said Nami, trying to drag him back into the forest and away from the fight, but Usopp stood his ground.

“This is what a fight between men is!” He proclaimed, awed. “Can’t you see?” He continued, seeing that Nami wasn’t understanding. “This is a real battle of pride between two warriors! I’m going to stay here a bit longer and watch, because this is what I meant by brave warrior of the seas… I want to become just like them!” He said, determined.

Nami stopped trying to get away, and came back to sit next to him. “So… You want to be a giant?” She asked, smiling smugly at Usopp's spluttered denials.

During their talk, the two giants had lost their weapons, and were now fighting each other with just their fist and their shield. They managed to hit each other’s heads with their shield at the same time, the hits strong enough to make the earth vibrate around them. They stood their ground for a few seconds before dropping at the same time on the ground.

“73 466 fights…” Started Brogy.

“73 466 draws.” Finished Dorry.

They panted for a few seconds on the floor, before Brogy started laughing. “Hey, Dorry, I got some rum from guests!” He explained happily. Dorry's laugh soon answered him. 

“Excellent! I haven’t had rum for so long, pour me some, will you?”

A few minutes and an exchange of rum later, Dorry was back next to Luffy and Vivi, bringing them news of Usopp and Nami's presence with Brogy.

“Sorry to change the topic.” Interrupted Vivi. “But you said earlier that it takes a year for the log to finish recording on this island, is that true?”

“Did you not see the skeletons of the little humans lying around? Most humans who come here end up dying long before their log pose sets. Some get eaten by the dinosaurs, some try to attack us… I only know of one human who managed to survive more than a year here, all of the others end up perishing on this island. It seems that spending even a single year here is too long for you little ones.”

“What do I do.” Whispered desperately Vivi, her head between her hands. “Even if I survive on this island for that long, who knows what would become of my country during that time…”

“Yeah, spending a whole year here would get kinda boring.” Agreed Luffy. “Isn’t there some other way?” He asked the giant.

“Well, I do have one eternal pose, but it only points toward my home, Elbaf. But I said there was one little human that managed to survive on this island for more than a year, and he is still here. You could try asking him if he has a log pose?” Dorry offered after a moment of reflection.

“Really Mr. Giant? Could you show us where he lives?” Asked Luffy.

“Sure.” Dorry offered.

He put down the barrel of rum he had just opened and was going to take a swing off and rose from his sitting position.

“He tries to stay away from our battle, so he lives closer to this small chains of volcanoes that you can see over there.” He said, pointing to the other side of the island, closer to Brogy.

Chapter Text

Dorry grabbed Vivi and Karoo, putting them in the palm of his hand. It was big enough that Luffy would have no problem sitting with them, but the teen decided to go on Dorry’s shoulder.

Dorry started walking toward where he could see Brogy sitting. He barely had crossed half of the distance between them when the volcano exploded again.

“Another fight so soon?” He asked, before turning and walking away from the area they usually fought in. “I will come back after our fight.” He said, lowering his hand enough for Vivi and Karoo to jump off. Luffy dropped from his position still quite high, landing on the ground with a loud thump.

Brogy was already waiting for him, his axe resting on his shoulder. “Dorry, how was the rum?” He asked once he got closer. “You enjoyed it, right?”

“I didn’t have the time to taste it.” Admitted the other giant. “Our little friends asked me to bring them to the other human that lives on this island.”

“You are too good.” Laughed Brogy, before he shot forward and without warning brought his axe down against Dorry’s sword.

“Even after all those years, they are still fighting strong.” Said Vivi, observing the fight from the top of a tree, Luffy holding her around the waist so she didn’t fall.

“They’re fighting for their honor.” Answered Luffy, a small smile on his lips. A shout of his name dragged his attention back to the ground, and he dropped down, ignoring Vivi’s shout in his ear.

“Ussop?” He asked, landing in front of the sharpshooter.

“We are in big trouble!” Shouted the long-nosed teen. “Nami was eaten by a dinosaur!”

“Whaaaat?”

“We were running out of the jungle, and suddenly she disappeared.” Explained Usopp. “What am I going to do? I let my friend die!” He said desperately.

“Wait, you said that Nami disappeared, but did you check around the area?” Asked calmly Vivi.

“I am scared to death!” Shouted Usopp in answer. “How can I check? Even if it’s not a dinosaur, it must be some kind of monster!”

“Or it could be a human. Dorry said that someone else lived on this island, and Miss All Sunday knew that we were going to Little Garden… Maybe Baroque’s Work sent someone.” She reasoned.

A shout of pain startled them, and they turned back to watch the giant’s fight that had been forgotten in their agitation just in time to see Brogy’s axe slashing into Dorry’s torso, the latter being already on his knees in front of his adversary. A large spray of blood soared from the wound, painting the forest around the two giants in red.

The pirates looked, shocked, as Dorry’s sword slipped from his limp hands, and he toppled forward.

“DORRY” Shouted Luffy at the top of his lungs.

Brogy stood in front of the body of his defeated rival, his breath coming out in pants. “We’ve fought 73 467 times.” He said, his voice just loud enough for Dorry to hear. “And I’ve won once.” He continued, a sob escaping him.

“Dorry!” Shouted Luffy once again as he slingshotted himself toward the two giants. The shout wasn’t loud enough to hide the sound of a laugh coming from behind the still standing giant.

“Are you crying of happiness?” Asked an obnoxious voice. “You have easily won over that guy. You have done half my job, I should thank you.” Continued the man. He was leaning against a tree, looking away from the giants.

“Crying of happiness?” Repeated angrily Brogy. “What are you talking about? Who are you?”

“My name’s Mr. 3, and this is my partner Ms. Golden Week.” The man said, coming out from behind his tree and pointing a finger as a young girl that appeared next to him. “Anyway… You have been captured by me.”

Just as he said this, Brogy finally became aware of the strange sensation around his legs, and was shocked to see his legs trapped by a strange, white structure. “What is this?” He asked angrily.

“Just what did you do to Dorry?” Asked Luffy at the same time, his voice flat in his anger.

Brogy turned his head to see that his fellow giant had the same kind of substance around his feet.

“Luffy, we will help you take care of them!” Shouted Usopp, just arriving on the scene, Vivi on his heels.

“We will take care of you.” A new voice drawled from behind them, and the two new arrivals as well as Luffy turned around.

“It’s you!” Shouted Luffy, recognizing the man that had attacked them at Whiskey Peak.

“You shouldn’t have left your pet behind.” Said Mr. 5, his partner laughing behind him as he dropped an obviously hurt Karoo on the ground. The duck was covered in light burns and ashes.

“What did you do to Karoo?” Shouted Vivi, running to kneel next to her friend.

“Oh, we just tried to make him cry for help.” He explained. “We saw you running after this kid,” he said while pointing toward Luffy, “and he is obviously the most dangerous of you all. So we wanted to make you come back toward us, but this shitty bird refused, and pissed me off. Nothing seems to go according to the plan today.” He said in a whiny tone. “First, we tried to hurt the giants by sabotaging the rum so it would explode, but it seems that nobody drank that particular barrel… And now even a bird opposed us.”

“You wanted to destroy the honor of those giant’s battle?” Usopp exclaimed angrily. “I’m sure this is why the fight ended so quickly! This white thing had a part in Dorry’s defeat.” While he had felt kinship with Brogy and wanted to see him win, he could recognize that the two giants seemed too well attuned to each other for Dorry to lose a fight this easily.

“Prepare to die” Shouted Vivi, and she jumped towards the enemies with her peacock slasher out, while Usopp started to shoot at them. However, Mr. 5 absorbed the explosive projectile from Usopp, and threw back a bomb at him.

“Usopp!” Shouted Luffy, and jumped away from the giants to help his friends fight. However, Mr. 3 intercepted him with a wall, and he could only hear Miss Valentine calling out her attack, followed by a shout of pain from Ussop.

“Get away from me!” Luffy shouted angrily, turning toward the one that had blocked him.

“I won’t let you participate in this fight.” Answered the man. “I am Mr. 3, one of Baroque’s Works top agents. I ate the Wax Wax Fruit and became a ‘candle man’, you won’t be able to stop me.” He demonstrated his power by creating more wax to surround Brogy and prevent him from moving.

“You’d better not move,” he said, laughing as the giant tried to free himself. “My candle jacket is stronger than a rock. No matter how powerful you are, you can’t do anything tied up.”

“Then it is a good thing I’m not tied up!” Said Luffy. “Gum Gum Bazooka!” He shouted, snapping both of his hands forwards toward the wax surrounding one of Brogy arms, and cracking it under the impact. The giant managed to break it further and free his arm, but Mr. 3 just sent more wax to cover him, and he found himself trapped again.

“Why are you fighting like that, shouldn’t you be happy?” Asked Mr. 3 to the giant. “After all, isn’t it good that you finally won your fight? Even though your victory came from the help of one human.”

“You! You dared interrupt our duel!” Shouted Brogy. Luffy tried once again to attack Mr. 3 in retaliation, but he just created a wall of wax between them, thick enough that it didn’t break when hit by a Gum Gum Pistol.

“Did you know,” Continued Mr. 3, ignoring the anger coming from his opponents and still talking calmly, in his boring voice, “that both of your heads are still worth a lot?” He asked, referencing Dorry and Brogy bounties that had been issued decades ago.

Brogy seemed to pulse in anger, but before he could answer, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine came back from their fight, Vivi trapped in Miss Valentine's grip.

“Don’t hurt my friends!” Shouted Luffy, before stopping his attack to avoid the wax that Mr. 3 threw toward him. He had seen how strong the giants were, and if the wax managed to totally incapacitate Brogy, then he didn’t want to be touched by it.

“Candle Service Set!” Shouted Mr. 3, profiting from Luffy’s distraction to attack Vivi. “Mr 5, bring me that swordsman and the other girl. I will start my special service, Candle Lock!” More wax came out of his hands, creating a strange structure trapping Vivi. The bottom part looked like a cake, but on top of it was posed a round structure resembling a pumpkin, with candles on it. Mr. 5 then came out of the wood, and threw on the ground Nami and Zoro, both with their arms locked behind their back and their feet trapped together by wax.

“Luffy!” They both shouted, seeing their captain once again try to attack the Baroque’s work agents, this time being repulsed by one of Mr. 5’s bombs.

“Do you know where Usopp is?” Asked worriedly Nami, turning toward Vivi. He had left her to fend for herself in the forest, and she was rather cross at him for that, but that meant that he might have escaped and could sneak around to free them .

“The other boy?” Answered Mr. 5. “I’ve already killed him.”

“What?” Shouted Nami, while Zoro narrowed his eyes at him. While Usopp wasn’t the strongest out there, he was still resilient, and Mr. 5’s bombs didn’t seem overly strong. Being hit by one of them would probably hurt the sniper, but he wouldn’t die from that. He had won his fight against a fishman after all.

“Welcome to my service set!” Shouted Mr. 3, his arms spread wide to show the structure behind him, where he quickly put Zoro and Nami next to Vivi. Their feet were trapped this time by a dozen of centimeters of the wax constructing the cake-like structure, but their hands were freed. However, they still couldn’t escape.

Mr. 3 then went on to describe how the wax from his Candle Service Set would recover the three pirates and would slowly kill them, making wax dolls from their dead body.

“Mr. Brogy!” Shouted Nami, seeing the giant trapped next to them. “Can’t you move? Do something!” She continued, while Zoro observed the giant curiously, seeing one for the first time since he had spent all his time on the island hunting dinosaurs.

“He won’t move.” Started Mr. 3, laughing. “He has killed his best friends for hundreds of years with his own hands. He really is stup-” His tirade was interrupted by Luffy, who finally managed to get around Mr. 5 bombs, and with Mr. 3 too distracted to throw wax at him, got close enough to hit him in the face, sending him flying for a few meters and right into a tree.

The other Baroque’s Work agent reacted quickly. Miss Golden Week grabbed a brush and started mixing paint, while Mr. 5 threw a barrage of bombs toward the pirate captain, Miss Valentine using the first few explosions to jump high into the air, trying to pinpoint where her enemy was so she could drop on him, the smoke too thick for her to see.

After a few seconds, Mr. 5 stopped sending bombs, and everyone waited for the smoke to dispel so they could see if Luffy was still standing. However, before the air was clear enough to enable them to see, a few projectiles were suddenly shot from behind the smoke barrier, hitting the two female agents and exploding into flames on impact. Miss Valentine managed to stop the flames before they damaged her too much by dropping suddenly onto the floor, but Miss Golden Week shouted as the flames destroyed her pallet and brush, before rolling onto the floor to stop burning.

“My paint!” She shouted, enraged, but now unable to fight.

Luffy then rocketed out of the forest, and sent Miss Valentine right into the arms of Mr. 5, who exploded on impact, knocking out his partner.

“Luffy!” Shouted Nami, getting his attention. “You need to destroy this pole, it is turning us into candles statues.” She explained. Luffy threw his arm behind him to do just that with a Bazooka, but Mr. 3, who had recuperated from the earlier assault, threw a Candle Lock at his legs, throwing off his balance and making him fall on the ground. He then proceeded to trap him in even more wax, soon making him unable to fight. Usopp tried to shoot explosive bullets at him, but this time Mr. 5 managed to stop them with his own explosives, and fired a few times in the direction of the forest to try to hit him.

Usopp panted, hiding behind a tree. Mr. 5 explosive attacks and Miss Valentine dropping on the top of him at her maximal weight had really hurt him earlier, and he wanted nothing more than to drop on the ground, play dead and sleep the pain away, but he still needed to fight and save his friends. A quick glance toward the clearing made him swallow nervously. Luffy wouldn’t be able to fight unless he managed to get him out of the wax. The same could be said for the giants and the rest of his crew. He had no idea where Sanji was, and the only one here free to fight alongside him was Karoo, who was as hurt as him, but also as determined to fight. However, he had no idea how he could face both Mr. 5 and Mr. 3 at the same time, one of them being able to protect them from his projectile and the other able to retaliate.

Furthermore, if Mr. 3 caught him, the whole crew was doomed unless Sanji appeared, and he couldn't count on the chef to arrive in time. He had gone hunting, and who knew where on the island that had taken him.

Just as he decided that he needed to try to land one attack on Mr. 3, hopefully to knock him out so his wax would disappear, a new voice echoed on the battlefield.

“What is going on here?”

Everyone still able to move turned to face the newcomer, Usopp and Karoo peeking from behind their tree to watch him.

He was tall, taller than even Mr. 5. He had orange hair, long enough to be styled over his head, and a strange mask covered part of his face. There was an X-like scar on his chin, and a similar tattoo covering most of his muscular chest. His blue leather clothes were skin tight, and showed that he had a lot more muscle than the six-pack that was visible.

“Who are you?” Asked Mr. 5, watching him suspiciously. There was already one member of the StrawHat crew that he hadn’t been aware of, the sniper, and this man might be another one.

“I’m the one asking the questions here.” Answered the newcomer coldly. “And I don’t like what I am seeing right now.” He added, eyeing the scenery around him. The two giants were trapped on the ground by some sort of white substance, two women and one man were also trapped in the same substance that seemed to be solidifying and restraining them more and more, even if he could still see most of their skin. There were two unconscious women lying on the ground, and his observation haki alerted him of the man behind the tree, as well as another presence - it didn’t feel human, so probably an animal.

“Mr. 5.” Called the man with a huge 3 on his head, and the man next to him, probably Mr. 5, sent something toward him. He easily avoided the projectile, not knowing what it was and not wanting to risk being hurt by it. This proved to be the right choice to make, since it exploded behind him as soon as it came in contact with something solid.

“Mr. 5…” He repeated, pensively. “Would I be wrong to say that you, and Mr. 3 over there, are part of Baroque’s Work?” The reaction from the two men confirmed his suspicion. “Hmm… Well sadly, while I generally don’t have anything against bounty hunters, I won’t let the two of you try to hunt me or report my location to anyone else. So I’ll have to stop you right there and then.”

Mr. 3 immediately sent a flow of white substance- wax?- after him, that he easily sidestepped. His two adversaries were apparently both paramecia, but their powers weren’t a danger to him. They felt rather weak, not like the presence of the man trapped in the weird wax structure and the one on the floor. The fact that they had been trapped, as well as the giant, only showed that the master over one's Devil Fruit could give an advantage in a fight, no matter the strength of the user.

He distantly sensed the man that had been hiding behind the trees start to move, but he didn’t feel any intent to attack him, so he let him sneak around until he was at his back, his haki still following him just in case.

Mr. 5 once again sent bombs at him at the same time that his partner sent a wax wall behind his back, so that even if he avoided them, the explosion would still hurt him when colliding with the wall. Or at least that was the plan, until he jumped, high enough to reach the top of the wall and stand on it, watching dispassionately as the projectiles exploded below him. Mr. 3 then tried to re-liquify the wax to trap him, but as soon as the wax moved he jumped again, this time toward him, at full speed. He was quick enough that Mr. 3 didn’t have time to create a wall between them before he was hit square in the chest, the punch strong enough not only to send him flying into a tree, but through the three and into the ones behind it.

Mr. 5 turned around, surprised at the speed at which the other was able to move, and wasn’t able to totally escape the fist that grazed his jaw. He immediately replied by breathing out in the face of the other man, his breath exploding on impact, the other too close to avoid it. The taller man jumped back to put more distance between them, before fixing him with angry eyes. Mr. 5 threw a few more bombs, but this time didn’t aim them all toward his opponent, half of them targeting Usopp that had just ran back into the clearing on Karoo's back, the duck running toward the candle with a cord in his beak while Usopp was holding a lighter. They weren’t able to escape the explosion in time, and both dropped to the ground.

“I won’t allow you to save your friends this easily!” Shouted Mr. 5.

The orange-haired man turned to watch the scene. The three people trapped in the candle-like structure were now totally covered in wax, and it probably wouldn’t be long before none of them were able to breath. Their friend probably was trying to make the wax melt by putting it on fire. And while he couldn’t do that, he had a way to save them from their predicament. He tugged on his gloves to remove them, and with an ear-shattering roar, he suddenly transformed into a dinosaur. His blue eyes closed for a second as his fingers grew into green claws, a strong tail appearing on his back. His mask, leather shirt and pants, as well as his cape grew in size alongside him, his boots disappearing. When he opened his eyes, the part closer to his pupil had become yellow and the farther orange, a small black circle separating them.

With his new, bigger size, it wasn’t too much work to grab between his strong teeth the top of the candle which was dripping wax everywhere, and throw it far away. He then carefully grabbed one of the statues between his front claws, and applied enough force to make the wax crack. Mr. 5 used his distraction to throw more bombs at him, which he couldn’t dodge because of the still defenseless people in front of him. However, his thick skin still protected him from most of the damage, the bomb strong enough to hurt but not wound him.

He repeated the process with the two other persons, cracking their wax prison enough for them to be able to move, and let them a few seconds to grab the wax covering their face and free their mouth to breath.

“Protect your face.” He warned, turning as soon as he saw them complying and bringing his tail sharply in front of them, breaking the wax trapping their feet. The blue-haired woman jumped from the structure immediately, solid pieces of wax falling off her with every move, calling “Usopp! Carrue!” as she ran toward the men and the duck that were trying to get up.

The swordsman observed him carefully, ignoring the attempts from the redhead to berate him about his wounds, and the dinosaur zoan could feel that the one in front of him was also a predator. His instincts bristled at the challenge he could see in the green-haired man's eyes, but a particularly big explosion on his side dragged his attention back to the Baroque’s Work officer, who didn’t seem to understand how little his explosions were affecting him. The zoan ran toward him at full speed and, calling forth his haki, grabbed him in his mouth. The resulting explosion so close to his eyes made him flinch slightly, but the satisfying “crunch” sound that the body made when his spinal cord was broken by his teeth compensated any pain he could feel.

Chapter Text

“Can you free the others from the wax ?” Asked the swordsman, who seemed to have caved and was letting the red-haired woman bandage his damaged legs.

“Of course. The fact that the wax hasn’t disappeared however means that the one responsible is still conscious, so you should all stay wary of attacks.” He answered, ignoring the hints of challenge that he could hear in the other man tone.

He made quick work of the wax trapping the black haired teen, before turning his sight toward the two giants. Dorry seemed the most hurt, but he didn’t really have wax trapping him, his injury seeming to come from the huge wound on his front, and he would probably be able to free himself without problems once he woke up. The one trapping Brogy however where sturdier, and he observed them for a second.

There were obvious shackles around his hands and feet, but there was also a layer of wax keeping his body stuck to the floor, and the candle had dripped a fair amount of wax on the top of him.

“Do you think you could free yourself if I break the restraints against your arms and feet ?” He asked the giant.

“Sure.”

It took a bit of struggle, but they finally managed to free the giant and get him back on his feets.

The zoan then changed form to his human one, and got closer to Dorry, watching his slashed chest rise and fall. “He is still alive.” He announced, getting the attention of everyone. “The cut was deep, and he bled a lot, but it wasn’t deep enough for you to hit any organs. He would probably survive if you have some bandage lying around that can help stench the blood.”

“Ne, Mister Dinosaur, are you a doctor ?” The question came from the dark haired teen with a straw hat, and the nickname made him twitch.

“Drake.” He instantly corrected. “My name’s X Drake. And I’m not a doctor, but I know my way around flesh wounds, and given how resilient giants are, a hit like that shouldn’t kill him unless he was already hurt. But you should probably refrain from battle for a few days.” He added, turning to face Brogy. “After all he wouldn’t have been hurt in a fair fight.”

Luffy watched him for a few seconds in silence. The man had saved his crew when Luffy hadn’t been able after all. He tended to give nicknames to people, but this one deserved to be called by his name. “Drake. Thank you for saving my crew’s life.” He said, before giving a proper bow, to the shock of his crew mates. Nobody had seen him act like that before, and they certainly didn’t think that he would know politeness if it hit him in the face.

“It was no problem.” Answered Drake. “You said crew ? You certainly look more like pirates than royal guards, but given the presence of royalty among you, I wasn’t sure.” At these words, everyone but the giants tensed up.

“How did you... ?” Asked Vivi, shocked, while almost everyone took defensive posture around her, only Luffy staying still, his head tilted while he observed the tall man in front of him.

Said man seemed a little surprised at their reaction. “I know the face of the leaders of the 173 nations that are affiliated with the World Government, and the face of most of the people who escort their leaders to the Reverie. Princess Nefertari Vivi attended the Reverie since she was a child, of course I would recognize her.”

“So you’re smart ?” Asked Luffy.

Light blue eyes switched to watch him. “I’m informed.” He corrected. While he knew he was fairly intelligent, he had nothing on some people that truly were genius.

“Join my crew !” Shouted the captain, to the shock of everyone.

“What ?” Drake asked, totally dumbfounded, most of the others echoing him.

“You can’t ask everyone that !” Shouted Usopp

“I don’t even know who you are.” Said Drake. “And I certainly don’t plan to join a pirate crew anytime soon.”

“Oh, I’m Luffy !” Answered the teenager happily. “My swordsman is named Zoro, Nami is our navigator, Usopp our liar-" "Sniper !" "-and then there’s Vivi.” He said, pointing to each person he named. “Her duck’s named Karoo. Oh, and I have a chef too, his name is Sanji, but I don’t know where he is.” He concluded.

Drake blinked in the face of his enthusiasm. “Well, nice to meet you. But I still don’t want to join you.”

“But I want you to join.” Whined Luffy.

“Are you sure ?” Asked Nami. While they all had relaxed slightly when he didn’t seem to want to hurt Vivi despite recognizing her, she had still felt the strength of his teeths when he had freed her and she didn’t want to get into the same position without a layer of wax protecting her. It also showed how much control he had over his strength, since she didn't doubt he could have easily bitten through her.

She was saved from Luffy’s enthusiastic answer when Dorry suddenly sat up, making everyone's eyes widen. “It seems I’ve passed out for a bit.” He grumbled, his voice rough.

“Dorry !” Exclaimed his fellow giant. “The human told me you would survive, but I’m still so happy to see you awake.”

“It’s most likely because of our weapons.” Said Dorry, before showing how Brogy’s axe blade had been dulled by time and the repetitive fights. “We had been fighting for so long that the blades are no longer sharp.”

The two giants then proceeded to bandage Dorry’s wound, bickering most of the time.

~~One Piece~~

“You little ones really helped us out back there, if there’s anything we can do to thank you…” Started Brogy.

“And you even found the man you were looking for.” Added Dorry.

“We did ?” Asked Luffy, as Vivi turned to face Drake.

“So you have really lived here for more than a year ?” She asked, shocked. “Do you have a Log Pose ? I have to go back to my country as soon as possible, and we can’t wait a year on this island.”

Drake watched her, using a mix of observation haki and his own instinct to gauge her sincerity. She seemed pretty desperate, and whatever reason made a respected princess of a country such as Alabasta disappear from her country for years, only to reappear in the company of pirates and chased by Baroque’s Work, was probably worth him giving up on his Log Pose. He could probably trade it for theirs, even if it would force him to stay for another year on Little Garden. “Sure. One of you can follow me back to where I put my stuff, and I’ll give you my Log Pose.” He easily agreed.

“Yosh !” Shouted happily Luffy. “And then you can join my crew.”

“I’m not-” Drake’s denial was cut off by a shout.

“Helloooo, NAMI, VIVI, the rest… Thank god you’re all safe !” Shouted Sanji, arriving running into the place where they were, to the angry muttering of Usopp and Zoro at his casual disregard of the men of the crew. “The hell… Is that Mr. 3 ?” He asked once he laid eyes on Dorry.

“How do you know about Mr. 3 ?” Asked Nami.

“Well- Oh, My… Electrifying as always, Nami-san.” He said, his eyes strangely taking the shape of hearts for a second. Drake followed his look and now that he wasn’t fully involved in a fight, he could admit that the navigator wasn’t wearing much fabric, most of her skin above the hips showing. He turned his head to discreetly wipe his bloody nose.

The blonde explained the conversation he just had with Mr. 0, and the fact that they were now considered dead, to the shock of everyone.

“Yes !” Said happily Usopp. “We can escape off this island and we’re no longer in danger.”

“Oh, yes, I managed to get this thing from them too.” Said Sanji, showing the eternal pose that he had stolen from the Unluckies.

“Oh, great ! Drake here was going to give us his Log Pose, but your way works too.” Said Nami with a smile.

‘Drake ?’ Thought Sanji, turning to look at the man that he hadn’t noticed until now, too distracted first by the giant, then by Nami’s lovely figure. Tall, a red-head, muscular… Small lighting bolts shouted out of his eyes as he took in the possible competition to win Nami and Vivi’s hearts. He was sure that without him here, the ladies would have been much more thankful for his eternal pose, and he might even have gotten a hug out of it. He saw Zoro out of the corner of his eyes, and decided that he wouldn’t focus on this new threat when there was already one on the ship. The other man was an unknown, and would probably stay on this island, far away from the ladies. “You haven’t forgotten about our hunting contest, have you ?” He asked the swordsman with a challenging look.

“Hm ? Oh, I’m sure I’ve won. I caught a rhino this big.” Answered Zoro, spreading his arms out for empathize.

“A rhino ?” Said Sanji. “Can you even eat that thing ?” He asked.

“It’s not the best meat that you can catch around here, but it’s good enough.” Answered the redhead, gaining a glare for the interruption.

“Yeah Drake, wait until you have tasted Sanji’s cooking ! He can make anything taste good.” Exclaimed Luffy, before turning back to the giants. “Alright ! We’ll be taking off now.” He said, before grabbing Drake’s arm and starting to tug him.

“I’m not coming !” Exclaimed the zoan, echoed by an incredulous “He’s coming ?” from Sanji.

“But isn’t it boring here ?” Asked the captain. “You’re a good guy I can tell, and you saved our lives. Plus, we’re going to save Vivi’s country !”

The last argument made the tall man hesitate, his clear blue eyes turning to lock themselves on Vivi’s. “Aren’t you pirates ? Why would you do that ?” He asked.

“Vivi’s our friend !” The teen exclaimed, a huge smile on his face.

He seems nice... Thought Drake, And sincere. Are they really doing that only to help their friend ? I’m curious about the situation in Alabasta anyway, I could just ditch them if I don’t like what they are doing. I’ve stayed on this island long enough.

“Sure, why not” He finally said with a sigh. “Last I knew, Alabasta was on the verge of a civil war, so I guess you’ll want all the help you can get.”

“And how do you know that ?” Asked Nami, suspicious.

Drake stared at her silently for a few seconds. “I get the newspaper here.” He answered plainly.

“Well then,” Boomed Dorry, “We won’t ask you to stay longer. I hope your country will be safe.” He said to Vivi.

“Can you bring me to my side of the island ?” Asked Drake to Brogy. “It will be faster than me walking here.”

“I’ll come with you.” Said immediately Zoro. Drake could understand the concern, after all his recruitment had been rather fast. It couldn’t be usual to get new crewmates just because of the captain’s whims.

“We’ll regroup at the Merry.” Decided Nami.

Brogy put Zoro and Drake on his shoulder and started walking, the ride to the other side of the island only taking a little over a minute.

“So you’ve lived here for a year ?” Asked Zoro, looking at the entrance to Drake’s ‘home’. There was a small passage in the side of one of the smaller volcanoes, big enough to let them enter but Drake had to slightly tilt his head not to touch the ceiling.

“A year and a little over two months.” Said Drake. “The island seemed… fitting, given my devil fruit.”

“I didn’t know there was devil fruit that allowed you to transform into a dinosaur… But then I didn’t know devil fruit existed a month ago.” He added.

“It’s an ancient zoan.” Explained Drake.

“Zoan ?” Asked Zoro.

“You don’t… ? There’re three types of devil fruit,” He started explaining. “The more common one is paramecia. The two guys you were fighting were paramecia. Paramecia devil fruits usually enhance the user’s body in some way, or allow them to produce some kind of substance. Then there is the Zoan type, that allows the user to transform into some kind of animal. Most are common animals, there are a lot of birds, felines and canine devil fruit out there. The ancient zoans, like me, can transform into creatures that have disappeared and gone extinct, except for really rare islands like this one. There are also mythical zoans that allow the user to transform into creatures that never existed, the most famous ones are phoenix and dragon.” He continued, looking at Zoro from the corner of his eyes to see if he was following.

“The last category is called logia, and it allows the user to transform into an element. They are rare, and most of the users are famous and powerful.” He concluded. “You said that you didn’t know they existed before ?”

“Yes, all of the crew, except Vivi, come from East Blue.” Said Zoro, watching as the cavern around them shifted from a cramped pathway to a huge round room. A small bookshelf was overflowing with books, and a desk had been set up next to a bed that seemed barely large enough to suit Drake. “I’ve never seen any mention of Devil Fruit there. There are some rumors, but most people think they’re a myth.” He added, surveilling Drake who started to put his belongings into a backpack. The process was organized, and he could guess that it wasn’t the first time that Drake had to leave somewhere abruptly.

“I know that the World Government generally tries to keep the Blues ignorant about the Grand Line, but I didn’t know they managed it to that point in the East.” Answered Drake. “What about bounties ? They generally have a moniker that indicates it if someone has a Devil Fruit.”

“We don’t get most of those there. I didn’t even know what a Shichibukai was, and I read every newspaper I could get my hands on to try to seek intel on Dracule Mihawk. Most of the bounties we see are the ones for pirates that operate in the East Blue. For the few bounties that come from the other seas, I guess that all bounty hunters thought of the moniker as some sort of exaggeration, I certainly did.”

“Hmm.” Said Drake, finishing to put his last notebook in his backpack. The amount to which the World Government was able to manipulate the information still managed to surprise him after all this time. To be able to avoid all mention of devil fruits ? So much that Zoro, who had just revealed his past as a bounty hunter, didn’t know about them… He guessed there was a reason why the East Blue was called the weakest, despite the fact that some of the most famous criminals and marines alike came from here.

“You a swordsman ?” Asked Zoro when Drake went to grab his weapons. He didn’t have them on him before, since he had been hunting for food in his dinosaur’s form when he noticed that the giant’s fight had ended faster than usual, and he immediately went to investigate. Zoro was eyeing the sword attached to his right side with interest.

“Not really. I fight with a sword, and I know I’m not bad at it, but I wouldn’t call myself a swordsman. I usually fight with both my axe and sword at the same time, which can be destabilizing for most swordsmen.” He offered. If they had to help a princess take back control of her country, there would be fighting, so it didn’t make sense for him to try to hide his fighting style. And he knew how most swordsmen wanted to challenge each other, and he rather not be pestered every day for a fight.

Chapter Text

After Drake had made a final swipe of his room to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, he and Zoro started the journey back to the surface, and then toward the StrawHat’s ship once again on Brogy’s shoulder.

“My lizard is clearly bigger !” Exclaimed the blonde cook as soon as he saw them, earning a disturbed look from Drake.

“Are you blind ?” Snarled Zoro, jumping down from Brogy’s shoulder to get in the blonde’s face. “My rhino is clearly the bigger animal.”

“Your dinosaur looks like Drake.” Said Luffy to Sanji. “Is it your brother or something ?” He asked Drake.

“That’s a tyrannosaurus. I’m an allosaurus. And even if he was from the same species, he wouldn’t be my brother. I’m human.” Did he seriously ask me if it was my brother ?

“Oooh.” Said Luffy, a look of understanding crossing his face.

“How long are you all going to bicker ?” Shouted Nami from inside the Merry. “Just pack as much meat as possible and let’s get away from this island.”

“As you wish, Nami !” Exclaimed Sanji, while Drake looked at her from the corner of his eyes, secretly glad that she had finally put on a t-shirt and covered up.

“Just sail straight from here.” Said Brogy once the meat was packed up and everyone was ready to go. “You can exit on the western side of the island.” Dorry added, having joined them.

“The western side ?” Murmured Drake.

“There is one reason why none of the humans that have reached this island had left it alive.” Said Brogy as he walked next to their ship. “Most people try to leave even without their log pose setting, but nobody has ever reached the next island.” Added Dorry. “You all have risked your lives so that our pride can remain untarnished.” He continued. “Thus, in turn, no matter the foe…” Said Brogy. “We must not let your flag of pride be tarnished either !” Shouted Dorry. “Trust us, and sail straight ahead! No matter what happens, sail only straight ahead.” Finished Brogy.

“Got it, sail straight ahead.” Said determinedly Luffy.

“Let us meet again-” “-one day in the future !” Said the giants, both of them grabbing their weapons and lifting them into the air.

“Look! Up ahead !” Shouted panickedly Nami, as the sea in front of them started to lift.

“So you’ve come, Island devourer.” “In the name of Elbaf, we vow to clear a path !”

“Go straight ahead.” Shouted Luffy, his voice drowning Nami’s protests.

“Trust in the giants.” Said Drake. “They said they would clear us a path, and even swore in on their honor. They will clear us a path.”

“Are we really going to sail straight into that monster ?” Asked Vivi, her hands grabbing onto Drake’s jacket as he was the closest. The huge head of the creature in front of them got entirely out of the tower, its huge mouth opening wide to swallow them.

“Behold the mightiest spear of we, Giants of Elbaf !” They heard Brogy shout, just as the giant beast’s teeth closed upon them. “Straight ahead !” Chanted both Usopp and Luffy. Just as the fish lifted his head to swallow, the giant sent their most powerful attack, and a huge hole was created in the middle of the beast head, the force of the impact sending the Merry flying. “We’re flying !” Shouted Luffy excitedly, watching from his favorite position of the figurehead at the sky that surrounded them, no longer able to see the sea below them.

“They cut the ocean itself.” Cried Usopp. “So this is the power of Elbaf’s warriors…”

“Now go !” Shouted the giants, their cry making everyone on the Merry look back, just in time to see their weapon break under the pressure of their attacks and of their thousands of fights.

Drake went to put his backpack in the men’s sleeping room, following Sanji that made him take a quick tour of the ship, and watched as he came back Luffy and Usopp who were both dancing and chanting about the might of the giants.

“I don’t know how they can be this lively.” Said Nami, Drake’s attention focusing back on the navigator that was seated on the floor next to the main mast. “I’m exhausted from all that earlier… Vivi, can you keep an eye on the log pose for me ?” She asked. “We can finally go to Alabasta.” She said with a smile, but Drake watched her uneasily. His instinct warned him that there was something wrong with the navigator, but apart from her exhaustion, he couldn’t see anything wrong with her.

“I have to return no matter what.” Confirmed Vivi. “I finally have a way to save Alabasta.”

“No need to strain yourself, Vivi.” Said Sanji, coming toward the ladies with a plate in his hand. “Because I’ll be by your side !” He concluded, noticing from the corner of his eyes that Drake was also watching the ladies. “Your shares are in the kitchen.” He added, turning to the men in an effort to make them leave him alone with Nami and Vivi. Usopp and Luffy happily went to the kitchen, but Drake kept watching them from his place against the railing, his eyes focussing on Nami. “What is it with you !” Shouted Sanji, just as Nami collapsed on the floor. He instantly turned back to her, and watched anxiously as Vivi put a hand on her head.

“Everyone !” She shouted. “It’s an emergency ! Nami has an extremely high fever !”

“I could sense that something was wrong with her, but I couldn’t see what.” Said Drake, his brow furrowed, as Sanji lifted Nami bridal style to bring her to the girl’s bedroom.

“It must have been caused by the climate change.” Started to say Vivi. “There is a sickness that hit most sailors crossing the Grand Line, caused by the abnormal weather.” She explained. “Even the slightest symptoms can lead to death. Isn’t there anyone on this ship with some medical knowledge ?” She asked.

The rest of the StrawHat pointed toward Nami, before Luffy turned toward Drake. “Didn’t you say you were a doctor ?” He asked.

“I said I wasn’t a doctor, but that I know my way around injuries. I know nothing about most diseases.” He said. “We’re not even sure about what she caught. There are some vicious bugs on Little Garden, and who knows what disease they carry… I’m protected because of the nature of my zoan, but anyone on this ship might have been exposed to something dangerous.”

“Her fever is still rising.” Said Vivi worriedly.

“Aren’t there any doctors in Alabasta ? We just need to bring her to a doctor, right ? I’ve never been sick before…” Said Usopp, and all the other men in the room nodded at that.

“She has a fever of 40 degrees! The human body temperature isn’t supposed to be that high, and it’s putting her life at serious risk !” Exclaimed Vivi.

“Whaaat ??” Shouted the rest of the Straw Hats.

“You can’t underestimate diseases.” Added Drake. “Nowadays, there are a lot of things that can be treated by any competent doctor, but despite that, there are still some diseases that have managed to wipe out entire islands without anyone finding a cure.”

This sent them all into a panic, before Vivi had to shout at them to shut up.

“We have to go find a doctor and save Nami !” Shouted decidedly Luffy, only for Nami to contradict him.

“No… There’s a newspaper, on top of my desk. I didn’t want to worry you have it but… 300 000 soldiers of the royal armed forces switched sides and joined the rebels. We need to head straight to Alabasta. I’m sure I just have a little cold, no need to bring me to a doctor.” She said with a smile, but the flush on her face betrayed how hot she felt as she left the room. They could hear her talking to Zoro, before a shout brought them all outside.

“There’s going to be strong wind coming from ahead.” She explained. “You need to lower the sails so we can catch wind from portside.” Drake watched in surprise as the other rushed to follow her orders. He hadn’t heard of everyone able to predict storms that early on the grand line. The navigators of the Emperors’ crews or any notable crew in the New World were able to do it, but they had years to learn how the Grand Line worked, and were used to weather even more chaotic than in this part of the Grand Line. However, Little Garden was the second island of the Grand Line. If she could really predict the weather this early, it spoke of natural talent and was invaluable.

“You shouldn’t push yourself that much…” Started Sanji, but Nami’s vehemence that she was fine stopped him.

“I have a request to all of you.” Said Vivi, coming out of the Merry. “I know that it’s not my place to make such demands, since you’ve already done so much for me… But with the emerging crisis in my country, I want to go there as soon as possible.” She continued, a few murmurs of “Vivi” coming out of the others. “Not even a single moment can be spared. That’s why I ask for this ship to head for Alabasta at the fastest speed !”

Drake tilted his head, watching her closely. While he hadn’t yet had a full explanation of the situation, he had only been quickly informed of what Vivi has been doing these last months, and he didn’t think that someone that was selfless enough to risk her life by joining a criminal organization that wanted nothing more than her death would let others die in front of her in a quest to go back to her country.

“This is why we need to find an island with a doctor immediately. We have to see to it that Nami gets better as fast as possible, and then head for Alabasta. That will be the only way this ship can sail at the fastest, right ?” She continued, and a proud look crossed Luffy’s face at her declaration.

The need for their navigator to be healthy showed right after, as a huge cyclone appeared just where their ship was headed a few minutes ago. “If we had sailed straight, we would have crashed right into it by now !” Exclaimed Luffy.

“I’ve never seen such a navigator.” Said Vivi, shocked.

“The ones that have a true talent for navigation are really rare.” Confirmed Drake. “Most pirate crew would kill to have someone like her on board.”

~~One Piece~~

The next day of sailing passed without anything happening except for their rising worry as Nami’s state deteriorated, until they reached an area where snow was falling.

“It probably means that we’re nearing an island.” Explained Drake. “Most islands have their own climate that influences the surrounding area. That’s why the entrance of the Grand Line is so chaotic : there are a lot of close islands, that all influence the area around them with their own climate. So we should look carefully for an island, it can be anywhere around us.”

It wasn’t long before Zoro, who was the official lookout, called them. Only it wasn’t because he had seen an island. “Guys ?” He asked with a strange voice. “Do you think a person could stand on top of the ocean ?”

“Why the hell are you asking that?” Said Usopp.

“Look ! How do you explain that ?” Luffy, Usopp, and Drake, the three that were on the deck looking for an island around them to help Zoro in the fog while Vivi and Sanji were taking care of Nami, turned to look in the direction that Zoro was pointing.

“What ?” The two dark-haired teenagers asked, when they could, indeed, see a strangely dressed man standing on the ocean.

“Quite cold today, isn’t it ?” Asked calmly the stranger.

“Wait, I’ve seen him before !” Exclaimed Drake before anyone could answer. “He was totally forgettable, but his king was enough of an asshole for me to remember his followers... He’s one of Wapol’s guards.” He warned.

“Wapol ?” Asked Ussop.

As if to answer them, the sea in front of them seemed to lift, just like when they faced the fish at Little Island, and a huge boat appeared from beneath them, the waves rocking the Merry.

“What is that ?” Shouted Luffy.

“Is that thing a ship ?” Asked Zoro at the same time, as the metal plates surrounding the ship fell down, revealing the ship behind.

“Surprised ?” Shouted an obnoxious voice from the ship. “Has my submersible ambush-ship ‘Tin-Can King’ left you speechless ?”

“A pirate ship ?” Asked Usopp, and Drake frowned. Last he knew, Wapol was a tyrant that governed Drum’s Kingdom, and he wasn’t the type to leave his country for anything except the Reverie.

Men jumped from Wapol’s ship to the Merry, and the StrawHats quickly found themselves surrounded.

“What’s going on out there ?” Shouted Sanji as he came running out of the ship. He jerked to a stop when he found himself faced by the barrel of a gun. He casually got his matches out, and lit up his cigarette. “Well, what’s going on ?” He repeated calmly.

“We’re being ambushed.” Said Luffy casually.

“Yeah, I figured.” He said, watching the high number of unknowns surrounding them and threatening them all with guns.

“Hmm, that makes five people in total.” Said the obnoxious voice, that Drake could recognize belonged to Wapol. “There can’t be only five people on this ship. Well, whatever. Let me ask you something.” He said, as he started to eat the sword he was holding in his hand.

“The hell ?” Exclaimed Luffy, looking disgusted, while Zoro watched him uneasily, his hand coming to rest reassuringly on Wado’s hilt.

“Careful, he is a paramecia, he ate the Munch-Munch Fruit.” Warned Drake. “He is able to eat almost anything and transform it into a weapon.”

“We’re heading to Drum Kingdom.” Wapol said. “Do you have an Eternal Pose, or even a Log Pose pointing there ?”

“No.” Started Sanji, before being interrupted by Drake.

“Why would you even need that ? You don’t have an eternal pose to your own country ?”

“What ?” Asked Luffy.

“He is the king of Drum Kingdom, a tyrant really.” He explained.

“Oh, if you’re going to say things like that… I’ll have to take all of your treasures and your ship, for daring to insult me.” Wapol said smugly. He then proceeded to open his mouth wide, a bit on the side of the Merry, tearing a chunk of wood from the ship.

“Don’t let him eat Merry !” Exclaimed Luffy, and they all put themselves into their combat stance, except Usopp who tried to hide behind the mast. The invaders started to shoot at Luffy, and the StrawHats that were able to jumped into the fight. Drake didn’t let himself be distracted by the gunshots, having been explained a little more about the crew while they were trying to find the nearest island. A rubber paramecia might not seem powerful at first, but it hadn’t taken long for him to see how it might be beneficial in a fight. Instead, he rushed toward Wapol, forcing the king to stop eating their ship to turn and eat his hand instead.

“The fool !” Exclaimed the Drum’s soldiers, before shouting, shocked, when Drake suddenly shifted into his hybrid form, the scales covering his arm too strong for Wapol’s to bite through. He used his free hand to clock him in the jaw, the metal bending under his hand before Wapol was sent flying toward the sea, his silhouette rapidly disappearing in the snow fog.

“This is bad ! His majesty was flung into the ocean !” Shouted the man that was standing on the water earlier.

“And he can’t swim !” Shouted another one of Wapol’s followers, this one just as oddly dressed as the first man. “Back to the ship, everyone !” He ordered, the soldiers rushing to follow his order. “If we don’t go rescue him, he’ll drown for sure !”

“And for you scum !” Shouted the first one, his finger pointing toward Drake. “We’ll have our revenge one day, so remember us !” “Remember us !” Echoed the other one.

Chapter Text

Usopp quickly started the repairs on Merry, Drake sitting next to him to give him the plates of metal he needed as he demanded them, part of him feeling guilty that the ship had taken damages from Wapol despite him knowing how his powers worked. The others went back to their occupation, which was either checking on Nami or looking around for an island. Less than an hour later, the repairs mainly finished, Sanji shouted “Land ho !”

“Wooh, so white !” Exclaimed Luffy. “So that’s what a winter island looks like. I hope there’s enough snow to play in, I love snow, it’s so white…” He continued, ignoring Sanji’s warning about avoiding trouble to find a doctor for Nami. They entered a river that continued into the island, looking in awe at the strange form of the mountains around them.

“So, who’s going to look for a doctor and who’s staying on the ship ?” Asked Zoro.

“I’ll go !” Exclaimed immediately Luffy.

“Me too.” Said Sanji, ever ready to help a little in distress.

“Sure, you guys go.” Said Usopp. He wasn’t used to cold, the climate on his island had been moderate, and while it had often snowed during the winters, there had never been layers of snow like here.

“I’d like to go with you. I’ve never been to Drum, and I’m curious about why its king was around playing pirate, without a way to come back.” Said Drake.

Their discussion was interrupted by a shout from the island. “Stop right there, pirates ! You will turn around immediately, and leave this island at once.” Shouted a man. He was surrounded by other people carrying weapons and pointing them at the ship.

“Wait, we’ve come here for a doctor.” Said Luffy.

“We have a sick person on board.” Added Vivi.

“Those lies won’t work on us, pirate scum ! This is our country, and we won’t let any pirates ruin it ! Now leave, or we will make you leave.”

“Talk about bad first impressions…” Said Sanji, clearly not impressed.

“Don’t talk back on us !” Shouted one of the trigger-happy villagers, before trying to shoot Sanji, who barely avoided being hit by the bullet.

“Now you’re making me angry…” Sanji said, his dark glare making the villager panic and causing him to shoot one again.

“Sanji, no !” Shouted Vivi, jumping in front of him to prevent him from attacking the villagers, and putting herself into the path of the bullet. It hit her shoulder, sending her sprawling on the ground.

“Vivi !” Shouted Luffy, and everyone on board prepared themselves to avenge their hurt friend. “How DARE you !” He shouted. The villagers all pointed their gun at the pirate, but before anyone could act Vivi threw herself once again between the crew and the villagers.

“Wait, Luffy ! You can’t fight them.” She protested, her eyes wide. “The bullet barely grazed me, don’t worry.” She took a step closer to him, her unharmed arm coming to rest lightly against his chest to prevent him from moving forward in his attack. She whirled around, facing the armed civilians that were watching them, their posture hostile. “Please, I beg of you, we promise we won’t set foot on your country, we just need you to call a doctor.” She let herself fall to her knees and bowed low, her head touching the ground. “Our friend is ill, please, we need your help !”

“Vivi…” Whispered Luffy.

“It’s your duty as a Captain to take care of your crew.” Said Vivi harshly. “You can’t help Nami right now by fighting anyone.”

Luffy watched for a few seconds, before turning to face the villagers, an unusually serious expression on his face.

“Sorry.” He said calmly, dropping to his knees right next to Vivi and bowing until his head touched the floor. “We’re only asking for a doctor. Please, save our friend.”

The villagers watched, unable to decide how to act now that the pirates weren’t hostile. Drake also watched, pleased at the development. His instinct had told him to trust the captain, and he had learned to listen to his instinct since the last year spent on Little Island had reconnected him with his more primal side. Seeing him willing to put his pride aside for the safety of his crew… Well, let's just say that he didn’t know that many people willing to put their men before themselves.

“We’ll lead you to our town.” Said one of the villagers the closest to the ship. “Follow me. Let me give you one warning beforehand though. There is only one doctor in our country… And she happens to be a witch.”

~~One Piece~~

“So, what is this country called ?” Asked awkwardly Vivi, trying to start a conversation with their guide that had introduced himself as Dalton. Most of the crew had decided to come, Luffy, Sanji, and Drake to bring Nami to the doctor, Vivi to serve as a diplomat between the crew and the villagers as well as to get her arm looked at at Dalton’s house. Ussop came with them at Sanji’s insistence that Vivi shouldn’t be left alone in a strange village, leaving Zoro and Karoo to keep watch on the ship

“It doesn’t have a name yet.” Answered Dalton.

“How is that possible ?” Asked Vivi, surprised. Drake stayed silent. He was quite sure that Dalton had been one of Wapols guards, even if the man hadn’t brought much attention to himself and had been quite discreet the time he had seen him at the Reverie. Given what they had seen earlier, he could hazard a guess that the habitants had overthrown Wapol and taken back the control of their country. It would also explain their fear of pirates, given Wapol’s new occupation.

“The previous name no longer fit us. We hadn’t had the time to choose a new one.”

“Does this country have any professional soldiers ?” Asked Vivi. They had seen a few people holding weapons, but they were all clearly civilians.

“No, they’re all normal civilians.”

It made Drake wonder how the previous king could have lost, given that all the soldiers had been on his side. He had quite the army on his ship, and he couldn’t have been evicted from his country easily.

“Here we are, this is my house. You can put your friend on the bed over there.” Offered Dalton. “I’ll go heat up the room, the cold can’t be good for her.” It took him a few minutes to get a fire going, the others fussing over Nami in the meantime. “I feel that I’ve seen you before somewhere… Did we meet ?” He asked Vivi after staring at her for a few seconds.

Drake almost snorted at that. Drum and Alabasta were close enough that they should be aware of each other’s government, in case a conflict happened. Although, given the difference of climate between the two countries, one being on a winter island and the other a summer island, he didn’t think they had much interest in invading each other. Dalton had acted as the main commander of Drum Kingdom’s military force, if he remembered correctly, so he must have paid special attention to other world leaders, but the last Reverie had happened two years ago, and Vivi had still been a child, not involved in politics like the leaders were. It wasn’t surprising that he couldn’t exactly remember her.

“You must be imagining things, I’ve never met you before.” Said panickedly Vivi, before trying to redirect the conversation. “More importantly, could you please tell us more about this doctor ? Nami’s fever has been rising steadily for three days, and we don’t know the cause of her disease nor how to treat it. Why did you call her a witch ?”

“It doesn’t matter if the doctor is a witch if she can cure Nami !” Exclaimed Sanji. “Can you tell us where she lives ?”

“You can see mountains from the windows.” Started Dalton. “They are called the Drum Rockies. There is a castle at the top of the tallest one, and Dr. Kureha, the only doctor in this entire country, lives in that very castle.”

“What ? Of all the places to be....” Muttered Sanji. “Well, better call her, this is an emergency.”

“As much as I’d like to, there is no way to contact her.”

“What ? And she calls herself a doctor ? What the hell is this woman ? What do the people of this country do when they’re sick or injured ?” Asked Sanji.

“She comes down from the mountain whenever she feels like it.” Explained Dalton. “She finds patients, treats them, and then she takes anything she wants from their homes as payment.” He added, to Ussop’s indignation. “In any case, I’m afraid that the only thing you can do is wait until she comes down.”

“How can there be only one doctor in an entire country ?” Asked Sanji angrily, before turning to face Luffy who went to wake up Nami.

“Hey, Nami ! Listen, we can’t get a doctor unless we go up a mountain.” He explained. “So we’ll go hiking.”

“Are you crazy ?” Asked Sanji. “Just what are you trying to put her through ?”

“It’ll be fine, I’ll be carrying her.” Said Luffy calmly.

“You’ll have to be careful then.” Said Drake, cutting through Vivi and Sanji’s protest. “You can’t afford to fall, and you will not be able to fight or even move too roughly less she gets even more hurt. Her body is very weak right now.”

“I’ll leave it to you then, Luffy.” Said Nami in a pant. She was clearly not getting better, and Drake wondered if she wasn’t already delirious. She wasn’t healthy enough to consent to this plan, but if they didn’t do anything then she would definitely die. It showed though that even in her state, her trust in her crewmates was absolute.

“Alright, I’ll be coming along too.” Said Sanji determinedly, Drake nodding his assent.

The preparations for their journey were quickly done, Vivi strapping Nami tightly to Luffy’s back. “Usopp and I will stay behind, we would only drag you down if we came along.” She said.

“If you’re serious about this, you should at least climb from the other side. The route on this side is full of Lapins, a type of violent and carnivorous rabbit. You won’t be able to escape alive.” Warned Dalton.

“Don’t worry about it. There are bigger predators than rabbits out there.” Drake said with a toothy smile.

The trio then started running toward the mountain, leaving behind the town and the rest of their crew. They advanced quickly, not impeded by the snow, Drake listening with a small, private smile as Luffy and Sanji bantered. He hadn’t had contact with anyone other than the Giants for more than a year, and even then they barely interacted with each other. He had missed this, being around other human beings.

They ignored the small creature that tried to attack them, at least until Sanji kicked it and sent it flying. “What’s up with that rabbit ?” Asked Luffy, bewildered, earning shrugs from the others.

The snow was rapidly becoming thicker under their feet, and the wind picked up. They suddenly could see figures through the snow before them. “What are these things ?” Asked Sanji.

“They’re white and big, so they gotta be polar bears.” Answered Luffy.

“Whatever it is, it’s definitely a predator.” Said Drake, his instinct telling him that the beast in front of them wasn’t prey. “Get back !” He said sharply, his haki warning him of the incoming attack just as the beast jumped above them, its sharp claw slicing the snow where they were standing just a second before.

“These must be the Lapin that Dalton was talking about.” Said Sanji. “There’s so many of them.” He shouted, as the blizzard thinned up just enough to reveal rows upon rows of Lapins.

“Luffy, you have to avoid fighting.” Said Drake. “Even if you don’t feel anything when you give a hit, Nami isn’t made of rubber and she will feel the aftershock.”

“Got it. I swear not to fight.” Said Luffy seriously, his teeth clenched.

“Just dodge, okay ? Dodge and run away. We will keep them away from you with Drake, move forward as smoothly as you can.” Advised Sanji, kicking a Lapin that was getting too close to Luffy. He managed to kick it away, but the beast didn’t fly as far as he wanted.

“Dammit, I can’t make them back up enough.” He complained as a dozen Lapin jumped through the air, attacking them all at once.

“I’ll cover you, you both run !” Shouted Drake, before he shifted to his full allosaurus form. Sanji looked at him in shock for a second, as he hadn’t seen him use his devil fruit before. They had talked about it, but he hadn’t shifted on the Merry, his form too big for the small boat. He then turned around and followed Luffy, both of them running away.

Most of the Lapin crashed into Drake’s body as he put himself between them and his crewmates, his tail and teeth catching most of the ones that had moved to avoid him, only a couple getting past him. Sanji managed to kick them away without difficulties, and Drake turned sharply on himself, his tail sending flying the Lapins that were trying to attack him. He transformed back into his human form as soon as they were all pushed back, and ran to get back to his crewmate’s level and assist them in case the Lapins managed to catch up.

~~One Piece~~

The Lapin didn’t just manage to catch up, but to get ahead of them. They watched worriedly the small army in front of them, some showing clear foot or claw marks indicating that they had already faced Drake of Sanji before.

“What are they doing ?” Asked Drake as they started to jump without advancing.

Sanji understood half a second before Drake, his face becoming totally white in shock. “It can’t be…” He whispered.

“Are they trying to start…” Said the zoan, just as shocked.

“What is it, Sanji, Drake ?” Asked Luffy.

“RUN !” Shouted Sanji. “They are trying to trigger an avalanche !” The snow that the Lapin had displaced finally lost its fight against gravity, and a huge wave of snow started running down the side of the mountain, the four pirates right in its path.

Chapter Text

“What do we do ?” Shouted Luffy as they started to run, his eyes wide as he looked at the avalanche behind them.

“I don’t know ! But whatever we do we must protect Nami !” Answered Sanji.

“Don’t run straight down the mountain.” Shouted Drake. “We won’t be able to outrun it, we need to try to get out of its path !”

Sanji’s eyes were desperately looking everywhere, trying to find somewhere safe. He knew that outrunning an avalanche wasn’t possible, but they might be able to hide from it. “There’s a cliff up there, it might be high enough.” He shouted, pointing toward a small cliff ahead of them.

“We can’t be sure, and we don’t have the time to try.” Said Drake, feeling the rumble of the avalanche just behind him and the snow start to hit the back of his legs.

“Hold on !” Shouted Luffy, both of his arms extending, one to grip the highest tree that he could see, the other passing in front of Sanji and Drake, letting the both of them grab onto it and sending all them hurling toward the tree. Sanji and Drake released his arm at the last second, just in time to grab the tree without crashing into him and Nami.

“It won’t last long.” Said Sanji . The smaller trees around them were getting unrooted by the avalanche. The one they were grabbing managed to resist for a few more seconds, before it too was unrooted.

Fortunately, it meant that the most destructive force of the avalanche, its front, was already ahead of them, and they managed to hold onto the tree as it rested on top of the snow wave.

“We’re going down !” Cried Luffy as they started to down the slope. It barely took them a few seconds to travel dozen of meters.

“We’re going to crash.” Said Sanji worriedly. The avalanche was hurling them toward a large rock, tall enough to be seen atop the snow, and they had no way to change their path away from it. The impact would be harsh, and while it wouldn’t kill the three of them, there was no way he was getting Nami jostled.

Sanji and Drake shared a look of understanding. Getting on the rock would be their best way to stay safe while waiting for the avalanche to run out, but Luffy couldn’t be the one that grabbed onto it, because it would be harsh on Nami’s body.

They needed to get him on top of the rock, which meant they would need to stop their momentum in a way that wouldn’t involve Luffy.

Drake shifted into his full form and grabbed Luffy around the torso, making sure that his claws didn’t come too close to Nami. Worse came to worse, they would pierce Luffy’s skin if he clenched his transformed hand too tight, but it wouldn’t hurt much the teenager.

“We’re getting on the rock.” Explained Sanji as Drake jumped up, rising just high enough for Sanji to put his leg between him and the tree. Just as he landed on the leg, Sanji sent a powerful kick up in the air. Drake stopped moving forward, the kick sending him flying with just enough angle that he wouldn’t fall back into the snow. He managed to grab Sanji with his tail at the last second, and angled his body to fall toward the rock.

He barely missed it with his free claw. He opened his mouth, his teeth scraping the stone as their longer reach allowed him to slow down his fall. Luffy immediately reached for the rock, managing to grab it just as Drake release his torso and fell back into the avalanche, his teeth making a screeching sound as he tried to hold on for as long as possible.

He fell back first into the snow, swinging his tail forward and curling his body around Sanji in an attempt to protect him from harm.

“Sanji ! Drake !” Shouted desperately Luffy, watching them disappear in the snow before he could do anything to grab them.

His fingers flexed against the rock, and he forced himself to climb it up. He needed to take Nami somewhere safe, and the avalanche was slowing down around him, so she should be fine there. He didn’t want to leave her alone, but he wasn’t going to abandon his friends here, and the layer of snow left behind by the avalanche was tall enough that he couldn’t jump down if he kept her strapped to his back.

He loosened the binds attaching her to his back and put her gently against the rock. Her face was flushed, both from the cold outside and her own body temperature that was too high, and he didn’t want her health degrading now that his body heat wasn’t warming her. He removed his coat and draped it over Nami’s body, before putting his straw hat on her belly, with her hand on the top to make sure that it wouldn’t fly away. That way, if she woke up she would know that they hadn’t left her behind.

He jumped on the snow below him, immediately noticing that he had underestimated its height. The snow almost reached his shoulders, but he forced himself to move through it, willing his body not to feel the cold.

“Sanji, Drake !” He shouted, hoping that they would answer, his head snapping from side to side trying to see them.

He moved diagonally down the mountain for a few minutes, not wanting to miss them because he was going straight. He knew he couldn’t let Nami alone for too long, but he wasn’t willing to leave behind either of his crewmates.

Snow suddenly moved somewhere on his right, and he could hear a faint “Luffy” coming from there.

“Sanji, Drake, I’m here !” He repeated, trying to pinpoint exactly where the other two were. He finally saw a dark blue cloth, and tugged on it, freeing both Sanji and Drake from the snow. “Are you okay ?”

“I tried to shield him from most of the damage, but I took a hard hit and lost consciousness for a few seconds. I reverted to my human form toward the end.” Drake explained, looking over Sanji. “Hey, Sanji, can you hear me ?” He asked, slowly turning his body around. “He has been hit on the head too, probably is unconscious…” He said, his hand lightly touching Sanji’s head where blood was cowering his hair.

“Are you good enough to walk ?” Asked Luffy. “I can lift Sanji, but I don’t think I will be able to carry the both of you and keep Nami safe on my back.” He explained.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m resilient.” Answered Drake. “I can take Sanji on my back, and give him to you if we need to fight again.”

He got to his feet and tried to remove his leather coat, grimacing when his left arm protested the movement.

“Here, let me.” Said Luffy, helping him remove it without having to move his arm toward his back. “You’re hurt there ?”

“It’s okay.” He slowly moved his arm, checking his range of movement. “As long as I don’t have to move it too far back it doesn’t hurt too much.” Luffy helped him tie the sleeves of his coat around his chest to secure Sanji on his back.

“You won’t be too cold ? You’re not wearing a shirt…” Asked Luffy.

“I’ll be fine.”

Luffy frowned slightly at that, not convinced, but decided to drop the topic. “We got down quite a bit.” He sighed, looking at the mountain ahead of them as he walked back to where he had left Nami.

They started walking again, more slowly this time, toward the mountain, when suddenly a shout attracted their attention. “Look, Lord Wapol !” Shouted someone from behind them.

Luffy and Drake looked at each other, understanding passing between them. Drake’s hand went to his coat, loosening the knot enough for Luffy to be able to take Sanji from him without problems.

“You have insulted me one too many times.” Said Wapol from the top of his White Walky, his two acolytes sitting next to them.

“Get out of my way.” Ordered sharply Luffy as he grabbed Sanji from Drake.

The zoan didn’t wait for the trio to attack them, grabbing his four-bladed axe as well as his sword and bringing them down sharply on the White Walky, making sure they wouldn’t be able to follow Luffy. They fell down into the snow and Drake barely let them the time to understand what had happened before he jumped on top of Wapol and bashed his newly-reconstructed jaw with his axe. The two weirdly-dressed men that followed Wapol quickly moved to get their king away from Drake, and the zoan went back to Luffy’s side, taking back Sanji from him.

They both progressed through the snow, their strength slowly waning, the cold getting to them after they sacrificed their coat to help keep their charge warm and safe. The snowstorm around them had picked up, and they couldn’t see more than a few meters ahead. They were both surprised when they suddenly encountered the side of the strange mountain where the castle was located.

“I can’t even see the top.” Whispered Luffy. Where others would have been desperate, Drake could only hear the conviction in his voice, as the young man ditched his sandals and tried to find a solid grip on the rock.

“Do you want my gloves ?” Offered Drake. “I’ll use my hybrid form that gives me claws instead of fingers to climb up, so they won’t serve me. It would protect your hands.”

“They’ll be too big for me.” Objected Luffy. “I can’t risk falling down.”

Drake tore the tip of the fingers off the glove with his teeth, before offering them once again to the captain. “There. You won’t lose any sensitivity that way, and your hands will be at least a little protected.”

Luffy accepted them with a smile and a thank you, before they both started the climb.

Despite the gloves, the cold was biting. He quickly lost all feeling in his fingertips, but continued to climb without complaining. He quickly glanced back toward Drake, but his crewmate’s hands were covered in scales and he didn’t seem to have a problem finding a grip on the mountain.

They climbed in silence for about ten minutes, Drake growing more and more worried as he heard his captain’s lungs start to make a small whistling sound at each breath, until he could no longer keep quiet. “I can grab Nami from you for a minute if you need to rest.” He offered.

“It isn’t safe…” Panted Luffy. “We can’t risk her falling. I can do it.” He added determinedly.

Drake accepted it with a worried frown. He didn’t want to imply that his captain was too weak for this, which he would be doing if he insisted. And Luffy hadn’t been wrong, detaching Nami from his back was too risky. Still, he didn’t want to imagine the pain the teenager was in. Since he had removed his jacket to tie Sanji, his upper body was uncovered, but scales covered most of his arms in this form, and they protected him both from the cold and from the harsh grip he had to keep on the mountain. He could still feel the bite of the cold on his torso and through the scales, even if Sanji’s body at his back protected him from the worst of the wind. He could see how cold Luffy’s fingers were, his gloves barely offering his hands protection and his fingers had already turned blue.

The climb would have been easier if he had been able to use armament haki, but the hit to the head he had taken earlier had rattled him more than he wanted to admit and prevented him from focusing enough to use it. Luckily his shoulder wasn’t bothering him too much, and he managed to climb without having to raise his left elbow higher than shoulder level most of the time.

However, he wasn’t sure that he would be able to maintain his hybrid form long enough for them to reach the top of the mountain. His head was hurting more by the minute, and preventing his scales from disappearing took a surprising amount of focus. It had been why he had attacked Wapol quickly and without transforming into his full form. He didn’t want to faint again and force Luffy to carry the three of them. From what he had seen of his captain’s determination, he would do it or die trying.

They went back to climbing, what felt like hours passing in silence, the only sound around them the howl of the wind and their hard breaths. Luffy almost slipped a few times but always managed to get his grip back before Drake had the time to react. His fingers were torn and he was leaving small droplets of blood behind each time he moved his hands. Drake was just happy that his claws hadn’t failed him yet. They were climbing mechanically, their eyes only focused on trying to find another protuberance to cling to.

Which was why it took Drake a few seconds to understand what he had seen when the snow thinned for a second. “I… I think I can see the top.”

Luffy turned his head to look at him, blinking for few seconds before what Drake said finally registered. His eyes turned back to look at the top, and he took a deep breath, before starting to climb with renewed fervor.

When Drake felt soft snow beneath his claws, he almost cried in relief. He barely managed to lift his weight one last time and let himself fall face-first on the ground, his head turned to the side to check that Luffy managed to reach the top too. Luffy somehow landed on his knees next to him, and didn’t immediately fall down. “We’re here.” Whispered Luffy, the barest hint of a smile appearing on his tired face. A shadow suddenly fell upon them, and he saw a creature standing over them. “A doctor.” Luffy said, his gaze locking onto the creature's eyes. “Please, my friends need a doctor.” He added, before his strength failed him and he fell on the ground.

Chapter Text

Drake slowly came awake, his body staying naturally still until he could get his bearing. He cracked open an eye, and looked at the stone ceiling above him. Loud snores coming from his right finally made him remember the situation they were in, and he turned his head, watching Luffy and Sanji sleeping peacefully on beds next to him.

We’ve found the doctor then. He thought to himself. He couldn’t see Nami in the room, and slowly made his haki come back online, expending it until he could feel everyone in the castle. Nami’s presence still felt slightly weak but it was way better than what he could feel from her before, and meant that the doctor had been successful in helping her. Speaking of doctors, he could feel two other presence in the castle. One was clearly human, and while he wouldn’t call it strong, it was still stronger than everyone on this island except Dalton. The other presence felt strange. He couldn’t really call it human, but it was definitely more than animal. It reminded him of the awakened zoan that had lost their human form, a strange mix between animal and human.

Movement from Sanji’s bed attracted his attention, and he saw the blond slowly sit up.

“How are you feeling ?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” Answered automatically Sanji. “What happened ?”

“What’s the last thing you remember ?” He countered.

“You and me both getting caught up in the avalanche.”

“I got hit and shifted back to my human form.” Explained Drake. “You got hit on the head and lost consciousness. Luffy and I managed to get both you and Nami up the mountain and to a doctor.”

“Nami ! Do you know how she is ?” Asked Sanji panickedly.

“I can sense her, she’s fine. Definitely better than before, we did well getting her to a doctor.” Reassured Drake.

A strange creature then entered their room, and cried out in surprise when he saw them both awake. It ran back to the corridor outside the room, hiding strangely behind the door, most of its body still visible.

“We can still see you.” Said Sanji.

The creature’s eyes opened wide in shock, before it hid again, this time the right way.

“What are you ?” Asked Drake. “Are you a zoan ?”

“Sh-shut up human !” It shouted. “How are you both feeling ?” It added more calmly.

Sanji's eyes opened wide hearing it talks. “Have you eaten a Devil Fruit ? I definitely feel better, are you the one that treated us ?”

It slowly approached them, seeing that they weren’t reacting violently to its presence. “Yes, I treated you. You both had minor frostbite, and took nasty hits to the head. Your friends were in the worse condition though.” It said, ignoring the rest of the questions, and approaching Drake to flex his finger and see if they were still working normally.

“I can smell that you’re a user.” Said Drake. “You also can, right ? You’re some kind of reindeer, you must have a sensitive nose.”

The reindeer watched him for a few seconds, before nodding. “My name’s Tony Tony Chopper. I’m a reindeer that ate the Human-Human fruit. What kind of zoan are you ? I’ve never met an animal that smelled like you.”

“I’m a dinosaur, an allosaurus.” Explained Drake,

Chopper’s eyes widened at that, a look of wonder and excitement appearing on his face. “That’s so cool !” He shouted.

Drake felt a smile tug at his face. “Did you also treat the girl that was with us ?” He asked.

“I helped Doctorine, the doctor that lives here, treat her. She was really sick.” He said shyly. “But now she’s cured.”

“That’s good, thank you.” Said Sanji.

Further conversation was made impossible by Luffy who suddenly sat up, a shout of “MEAT !” escaping him. His face turned to look at Chopper, and drool appeared at the corner of his lips. “Meat !” He repeated, shooting out of his bed and approaching the reindeer, that suddenly started to run away, Luffy following him running out of the room.

“This guy…” Sighed Sanji, patting his clothes and getting his pack of smokes out.

Drake just nodded, before checking with his haki that nobody was near - Luffy and Chopper were running further away from them, and Nami and the other person, probably the Doctorine Chopper had talked about, were in the same room away from them. “So.” He started, his attention focussing back on Sanji. “You were quick to identify the avalanche.” He said, watching the slightest hint of tension appear on Sanji’s shoulder.

“You understood what the Lapin’s were doing just as fast.” Sanji countered, neither his face nor his voice giving away how tense he was. His posture had relaxed almost immediatly, and he was sitting casually on his bed, a huff of smoke coming out of his cigarette.

“Sure, but I’ve already seen avalanches. I’m from the North Blue after all.” Said Drake. And bingo. The tension returned, Sanji clearly understanding where he was going. “Zoro told me that your crew formed in the East.” He revealed, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning on the headboard of his bed, showing through his posture that he wasn’t threatening the blonde. Yet. “I didn’t think anything of it at first, but those eyebrows are pretty distinctive, especially for someone that lived in the North…” He trailed off, watching Sanji closely.

“What do you want.” Said Sanji coldly, no longer bothering to act casual.

“It depends. I’m starting to like Luffy, and I certainly respect him as a captain. It’s worrying to think that one of the core members of the crew might just be infiltrating it.” He answered, his cold blue eyes meeting Sanji’s gray one.

“I’m not !” Said Sanji, and his anger was genuine, Drake could feel. “I don’t have anything to do with the rest of my… Family. I ran away from them when I was a child, and I plan never to have anything to do with them again.” He explained.

“Do you really ?”

“I’ve been living in the East for more than ten years.” Said Sanji. “You can ask the rest of the crew, we’ve met a the restaurant I had been working for all those years. I’m not one of them.”

The way he had spat out the last word removed any doubt from Drake’s mind that the cook was lying to him. You couldn’t fake this kind of hatred, and he knew very well what it was to hate your family. Given Vinsmoke Judge’s reputation ? It wasn’t a surprise that his son hated him. Although, from what he could remember, Sanji must have siblings. He didn’t really pay attention to the Vinsmoke family, since Germa 66 wasn’t officially a kingdom and didn’t have a place at the Reverie.

It was good to know that he no longer had contacts with his family, because the Vinsmokes had a reputation for playing dirty. He didn’t have any doubt that he and Luffy would win a fight against them if it came to it, but they wouldn’t fight fair. They would poison the crew, push people they trusted into backstabbing them… To know that Sanji wasn’t about to attract their attention was relieving.

He let himself slide down a little against the bed, his posture relaxing even more, and Sanji sighed quietly when he saw that Drake no longer was attacking him.

“So… Did you read Sora Warrior of the Sea ?” Asked Drake, a small smile on his lips.

Sanji huffed a breath. “Sure. I reached the East Blue before the end of the first part of the series, and you can’t imagine how much I struggled to get the last chapters.” He said in a long-suffering tone. “And nobody in the East was interested in it, so I had no one to complain to about how much bullshit was Sora sacrificing himself by jumping into the sea to-”

A crash interrupted their conversation, Luffy coming flying inside the room, a definitely bigger Chopper following him. “I am not your food !” The reindeer shouted.

“It talked !” Shouted back Luffy, stars in his eyes.

“I’ve been talking the whole time !” Shouted Chopper.

Drake sighed, seeing the two start to argue. “Luffy, please, don’t try to eat the man that healed us.”

“You did ?” Asked Luffy. “Wow, you’re a talking tanuki with a blue noise and you’re a doctor… JOIN MY CREW !” He shouted.

“I’m a reindeer !” Answered Chopper, before turning around and seeing Nami in the hallway putting her head through the door to look at them. “Hey, you’re supposed to rest.” He said.

“But I’m cold.” Complained Nami with a pout. “Hey boys.” She said with a blinding smile, causing Sanji and Drake to blush.

Chopper went to admonish her about being up, but he suddenly froze, his nose twitching. “This smell… Wapol is here !” He shouted, running out of the room.

The Straw Hats all looked at each other, before the men jumped to their feet. “Nami, stay here.” Ordered Luffy.

They followed the path that Chopper had taken, the reindeer having been fast enough that they could no longer see him. They reached the entrance of the castle in time to see one of Wapol’s followers point a bow at Chopper.

Luffy frowned at seeing his blue-nosed-tanuki-doctor being threatened, especially by the men who had hurt Merry and had tried to prevent him from climbing up the mountain to save Nami. “I haven’t had the opportunity to hit you the last two times.” He said sharply, cocking his arm back. “And I’m tired of you messing with my friends ! Gum Gum Bullet !” He shouted as his fist smashed right between Wapol’s eyes.

Wapol’s almost flew over the edge of the mountain, his follower catching him at the last second.

“You ate my ship, and you tried to stop us from reaching a doctor… I won’t let you get away with everything you’ve done to us !”

“How dare you hurt lord Wapol, the righteous king of Drum Kingdom ?” “How dare you fight against the king ?” Shouted his two followers at the same time.

“Him, a king ?” Scoffed Drake. “He’s more of a disgrace.”

“I don’t care who you are.” Added Luffy. “I just know that I hate you.”

“Aaaah !” Shouted angrily Wapol. “You really made me mad ! I will eat you all !” He started to open his mouth wide, the indent from Drake’s axe still visible on his jaw despite it having been fixed sometime between their last meeting and now.

“You want to fight him ?” Drake asked Luffy, who nodded. “Then we’ll take care of his two followers. You should get back inside to get a jacket before you catch a cold, we will have them beat by then.” He said, as Chopper shifted into his larger form.

“I’m Kuromarimo, and this is Chess.” Introduced one of Wapol’s followers. As if they cared. “And we’ll be getting back our king’s castle on your corpses ! Komarimostatic !” He shouted as he sent a ball hurtling toward them. Sanji used one of his legs to stop it, which, really, was a bad move since he had no idea what the ball could be. It proved to be a bad idea when he couldn’t remove it from his leg. Kuromarimo started to send more of those static balls toward them, Drake avoiding them while Sanji and Chopper got hit.

“Just stick them on the walls.” Said Drake, watching unamusedly Sanji and Chopper try to stick the balls on each other. His haki warned him about another wave of projectiles coming toward his two distracted comrades. “Are you planning to do anything about these guys, or should we wait for Luffy to come back and do everything ?”

Sanji immediately got rid of the static balls by using the closest wall and twisted to avoid those that Kuromarimo was sending toward him. He ran toward Chess and in one powerful kick sent him right into Wapol’s open mouth, the king trying to eat Chopper from behind while the reindeer was distracted attacking Kuromarimo. The impact was strong enough that the he skidded a few meters against the ground, and Kuromarimo gaped at seeing his king get moved that easily. Chopper used his distracted state to grab him, and followed Sanji’s example by sending him flying into Wapol’s still open mouth as well, though it was more like lobbing him since the king had fallen on his back.

“You just allowed me to use my most powerful attack !” Shouted Wapol as he struggled to get back on his feet. “I just created the strongest fighter of Drum Kingdom… Chessmarimo !”

“They’re just seated one on top of the other.” Sweatdropped Sanji.

“I don’t even want to know what they are trying to do.” Said Drake.

The newly named Chessmarimo charged at them, and Drake shifted into his allosaurus form. It was getting tiring to deal with them, it was cold outside, and he’d rather be free to watch Luffy defeat the false king rather than have to deal with those two weaklings. His teeth closed on them both at the same time, and in what was starting to become his most used move in fights, he clamped his jaw shut. Luffy might have called dibs on Wapol, but nobody could prevent him from ending this fight right now.

The taste of blood filled his mouth, and he jerked his head from side to side a few times to ensure that they wouldn’t get up. Their multiple layers of clothes were protecting them a little, but his teeth were sharp enough to break through them. Still, he’d rather not kill anyone, so he wouldn’t clench his jaw to break their spine like he had done to Mr. 5, because it would risk his teeth sinking too deep into their body and hitting something vital.

This way, they would only die if they tried to move and bled out.

“And I just defeated your strongest fighter. What does that say about my strength ?” He taunted Wapol. “You’re lucky we’re waiting for Luffy to show up, or we would have found out which one of us can bite the strongest.” He added with a bloody grin.

“I’m back !” Shouted Luffy as he came back out of the castle, wearing Nami’s jacket.

Drake changed back into his human form and pointed toward Wapol. “He’s all yours.”

“Great.” Answered Luffy with a grin. “This won’t take long at all.” He said, sending both his arms behind him. “Gum Gum Bazooka !” He shouted, his arms coming back at incredible speed, hitting Wapol right in the middle of his chest, sending him flying. However, this time there was no one to prevent him from passing over the edge of the mountain, and he flew away, disappearing in the sky.

“You might have sent him far enough that he fell into the water.” Noted Drake, impressed. He had already seen Luffy’s determination and endurance, but this showed that he possessed a real strength behind his attacks. The captain was definitely strong enough to hurt him despite his scales if they decided to seriously spar one day.

Darke then turned his attention to the mountain’s side. He had felt sometime during the fight, if it could even be called a fight, that there were people approaching but they were far enough that he hadn’t cared too much. Now though, they were close enough that he could recognize presences he had gotten used to in the last days. “Oi, Luffy, the others are coming up.” He warned.

“Really ? How can you tell ?” Asked Luffy.

“It’s something called haki. I will start teaching you all once we get back to the ship, but it takes time to learn, so you will not have unlocked it by the time we reach Alabasta.” He warned. “One of the different types allows me to sense the presence of other people, so I can tell that people are coming from over there, and I recognized the crew.” He explained.

“Oh, yeah, I can see some weird cabin coming toward us.” Agreed Luffy after having walked to the edge of the mountain. They all waited until the cabin reached them, Luffy jumping on Zoro as soon as he got out of the cabin. “Zoro !” He shouted happily. “Usopp, Vivi ! What was that thing that you used to get here ?”

“That was a lift.” Started to explain Vivi. “Did you manage to find a doctor ? Is Nami okay ?”

“Yes, everyone’s fine.” Said Luffy with a smile.

“We saw Nami not too long ago.” Added Sanji. “She was walking and looked better.”

“Wapol attacked our town and said he would get up here, did you see him ?” Asked Dalton warily.

“Oh sure, we totally kicked his ass. Sent him flying toward the sea.” Explained Luffy.

“And the other two ?” Asked Dalton.

“They’re over there.” Said Drake. “They should be alive if they receive treatment, but you can let them bleed to death if that’s what you want.” Dalton looked conflicted at that, looking at the blood surrounding Chess and Kuromarimo.

“They’ll probably leave the country to look after Wapol.” He finally decided. “The 20 Doctors are still in the town down there, we can bring those two to them.”

“Oh, we got a new crew member !” Luffy shouted, turning to look for Chopper. “He’s a reindeer that can talk, and he’s a doctor too ! And he got a nice hat.” He added happily.

“Is that him ?” Asked Zoro, pointing toward the small reindeer ‘hiding’ behind a tree.

“Yup !” Luffy said, ignoring the panic of the villagers around them. “Come on Chopper, I want you to meet the crew !” He said, grabbing a frightened Usopp with one hand and starting to walk toward Chopper, Zoro and Vivi following behind.

“Hi.” Said Vivi, crouching next to him. “So you’re a doctor ? Are you the one that treated Nami ?”

Chopper nodded shyly at that, and Vivi gave him a beaming smile.

“Then thank you !”

“Shut up !” Shouted Chopper, making everyone except Luffy, who only blinked, flinch in surprise. “Your thanks don’t make me happy at all.” He then added, his words contrasting with the happy dance he was making.

“You really don’t know how to take a compliment.” Commented Usopp.

“And I can’t join your crew.” Said Chopper, turning toward Luffy. “I’m a reindeer, and I can talk, and I have a blue nose… I’m not human, I’m a monster !” He added angrily. “And a monster can’t be friends with humans !”

“Then it’s good none of us really are human, right ?” Said Luffy with a smile. “I’m rubber, Drake can transform into a dinosaur, Zoro was called a demon in East Blue, Nami is really scary… All of us are monsters in our own way, so you’re fitting right in.” He explained calmly. “I think you’re really cool, so come with us !” He shouted.

Chopper just watched him, tear in his eyes, before nodding. “Ok !” He said shyly.

~~One Piece~~

Understandably, when they went back inside to tell Nami that they were leaving and that Chopper was their new crew member, Doctor Kureha, who was in the process of yelling at Nami because she was out of her bed, became suddenly angrier. Drake had to avoid a sloppily thrown knife, which indicated that Kureha wasn’t really trying to kill him, but was still making her displeasure rather clear.

“I don’t think so !” She snapped. “As I already told this young woman, she is my patient, and I won’t let her leave until I’m sure that she is better, which will take a week. You still haven’t paid for my services, and now you’re telling me that you are going to steal my assistant… I won’t let you !” She said angrily.

“Your patient ?” Asked Drake, a sly smile appearing on his face. “It’s funny, that. Chopper just recently told us that he was the one that treated Nami… Are you saying that he lied to us ?”

Kureha frowned at him, sensing the manipulation coming but not wanting to disparage her assistant like that.

“He is the one that treated her, but she will still need to have a follow up-”

“And Chopper will be able to observe her and keep track of her health once they are both on our ship.” He interrupted. “And since you just admitted that he is the one that treated her, shouldn’t we discuss the matter of payment with him, instead of with you ?”

Kureha went to cut in, but he talked over her. “After all, he seems like someone intelligent enough to make his own choices, and he chose to leave with us, shouldn’t you acknowledge his decision and support him ?” He saw that Kureha still looked angry, and his voice softened. “I’m just trying to take care of him, I don’t want him to leave here thinking you disapprove. Because he will be leaving with us, and you won’t be able to do anything to stop us.”

Kureha frowned, but admitted defeat. “You better take care of him then.” She threatened. “He is still young, and needs someone to look after him.” She warned.

Drake smiled at that, seeing that despite her harsh behavior, she cared about her charge. “You have seen how far this crew was willing to go for its member.” He remarked. “We will do our best to keep him safe, but he has made his choice to join us, and it won’t be an easy life. But I think that he knows that, and he is still willing to come with us.”

Kureha sighed, leaving the room and ignoring Nami that was trying to sneak out of the room. The two StrawHats shared a look, before Nami winked at him. “You’re sneaky.” She noticed, her tone approving.

“Eh. I’m just good at making civilians do something even when they don’t want to.”

~~One Piece~~

“You have everything you need ?” Asked Usopp, looking at Chopper and the two small bags he was carrying with him.

“Hmm hmm.” Nodded Chopper. “I don’t need more clothes than my stretching pants, and I took everything I will need to be a doctor.” He announced, beaming at Usopp.

“Then we’re all good to go back into the village.” Said Dalton, leading them toward the cabin.

The descent was far shorter than the climb, and it took almost no time for them to get the ship ready to go.

“Are you okay ?” Asked Drake softly, seeing Chopper throw a long glance toward the mountain where the castle resided.

He nodded decidedly, but he still had a small frown on his face. “I just wish she would have come out of the castle to say goodbye.” He explained in a small voice. “But I’m still happy to join your crew !” He exclaimed, this time with a smile.

“She definitely cares about you.” Said Drake. “But she seems like the type of person who has a hard time showing it.” He added. Just as he went to get into the kitchen to see if Sanji needed help with the party that Luffy had been requesting, he heard a muffled sound coming from the island. He and Chopper turned, and were greeted by the sight of a flare rising from the castle high into the air, only to explode and release a pink smoke, creating the illusion of a blooming sakura around the mountain. A smile almost broke on Drake's face at that and he entered the kitchen, leaving a teary-eyed Chopper to enjoy the sight.

Chapter Text

They hadn't left Drum for long when Luffy turned toward Drake, remembering part of a conversation they had earlier.

“So, Drake. You told me you would tell us about Haki?”

“Haki?” Repeated Zoro, the others coming closer to listen to the conversation.

“It’s something that you should all learn to do, as it will give you an edge when fighting.” Drake started to explain. “There are three types of Haki, but only two can be learned. The first one is Observation Haki. It allows you to feel the presence of others. It is usually used in a fight to be able to anticipate the attack of your enemies, but it also allows its user to be able to feel where other people are. I was able to tell that you were coming up the mountain before seeing you.” He explained.

“Anticipate attacks?” Asked Sanji.

“I guess a demonstration is in order.” Said Drake, sitting up. “Come on Sanji, try to kick me.”

Sanji looked at him a few seconds hesitantly, but instead of asking him if he was sure, he directed a weak kick toward his shoulders. Drake barely shifted his body and avoided it easily. “Come on, you can kick harder than that.” He gauded, Sanji answering with a barrage of kicks that Drake once again avoided without his feet ever moving from their position on the floor. Zoro snorted, amused. While he knew that he probably wouldn’t be able to do better than Sanji given the ease with which Drake moved around the blows, it was still satisfying to see the chef get frustrated at his opponent.

“Have something to say?” He asked angrily, turning toward the swordsman.

“Calm down, you two.” Said Drake before Zoro could rile Sanji up further.

“You said there was another type we could learn?” Asked Nami, helping him prevent a fight from breaking out between the two.

“The second type is called Armament Haki,” Drake explained, sending a grateful look at Nami. “It allows you to create a sort of armor around part of your body to protect it from damages. It also allows you to get past devil fruit defense.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Usopp.

“Luffy, gives me your arm.” Ordered Drake, holding his hand out. “Given that your body is made of rubber, you can’t be armed by punches. But if I use Haki, then…” He lightly punched Luffy’s arm, just strong enough that it would have stretched under the impact normally. However, they could all see that his arm didn’t bend, and Luffy gave a surprised flinch when it hurt.

“Some people have Devil Fruits that makes it hard for them to get hurt, but knowing Armament allows you to bypass those. There aren't a lot of people that know about it in these parts of the Grand Line, so if you manage to learn it before we reach the second part then it will definitely give you an edge over most opponents. As to normal Armament… Zoro, try to cut me.” He ordered, taking one of his gloves out.

The swordsman didn’t hesitate and sprung up to his feet, before drawing Yubashiri out and trying to cut him. Drake raised his now bare hand, and grabbed the sword before it could touch his head. A black sheen had covered it, and when he released the blade, they all could see that he took no damage.

“Useful.” Noted Zoro as he seathed Yubashiri. He could feel Kitetsu wanting to try its sharpness against Drake, but he mentally admonished him as he sat back down.

“I will teach you how to unlock it, but it will take time before you make any visible progress.” Finally explained Drake.

“And everyone can learn to do that?” Asked Nami. While she wasn’t planning to fight anyone, they were going into a country in the middle of the civil war, and knowing Luffy they would attract trouble at every island they stopped at. A way to avoid taking damage would be a great help in ensuring their survival.

“Everyone can learn the basics, but only some people manage to unlock the more advanced techniques. Most people have one type that they are better at however, so even by doing the same training not everyone will unlock it at the same time.” He explained. “I can show you the exercise to do for Armament this afternoon, and then alternate between the two each day until we reach Alabasta.” He offered, earning nods from the rest of the crew.

“If we’re talking about useful things right now, Vivi, what can you tell us about Baroque’s Work? Chopper and Drake don't know what is really going on.” Asked Nami.

Drake could see Luffy’s attention starting to wander, and he lightly tapped the back of his head. “Focus.” He admonished him. “So you know who you will have to fight. It would be bad if you were to fight someone, only to find out that he is just a minor Baroque’s Work member, wouldn’t it?”

Luffy instantly snapped his attention back toward Vivi, drawing chuckles out of the rest of the crew.

“Baroque’s Work is an organization that is trying to take over my country, Alabasta, by creating a rebellion over the lack of available water.” Started to explain Vivi to an attentive Chopper. “I infiltrated it two years ago to find out who was at its head, and I found out that it’s the Shichibukai Crocodile that is leading it.”

“Shichibukai?” Asked Chopper, while Drake’s eyes opened wide. He hadn’t known that Crocodile was involved, as the man seemed to use Alabasta as a way to have a foothold in the Grand Line and didn’t seem to care that much about the country outside of protecting itfrom rookie pirate crews.

“It’s a pirate sanctioned by the World Government.” He explained succinctly. “There are only seven of them, and they are all quite strong.”

“His organization is split into different levels. Under him are his strongest fighter, all split into pairs. The Mr 1 to Mr 5 pair are the Officer Agents, they have control over an army of 200 people called the Billions. Then, the Mr 6 to Mr 12 pair are the Frontier Agents, and have control over 1800 agents called the Millions. The lower your number, the stronger you are.”

“The Frontier Agents aren’t really strong.” Noted Zoro. “I faced a few of them at Whiskey Peak and I defeated, like, five of them by myself.”

“While Crocodile himself isn’t the strongest Shichibukai, he is the most powerful fighter you could find this close to the entrance of the Grand Line.” Said Drake with a frown. “It’s probably one of the reasons he targeted Alabasta, even the Marines around here are weaker than him. And the climate will give him an advantage.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Luffy. While he wanted to face a strong guy like Crocodile, he needed to beat him to save Vivi’s country, and if Crocodile belonged in the same group as Dracule Mihawk, he would need every advantage to beat him.

“He is a sand Logia. It means that his body can literally become sand. Alabasta is a desert country, so we will have to try and fight him as far away from the sand as possible. It also means that normal attacks won’t hurt him.” He informed Luffy. “He won’t be able to transform into sand if we douse him with water, but it will be hard to do given the situation in Alabasta. So either you find a huge source of water when you go fight him, or I will have to help you fight.”

“I’m not letting anyone fight my battles for me.” Said Luffy, frowning unhappily.

“Luffy, you don’t understand what it is to fight a Logia. Imagine someone whose whole fighting ability is based on punching people fighting you. They wouldn’t be able to win unless they find a new way to fight. It’s the same here, you won’t be able to land a hit unless he is rendered solid, and I know of only two ways of doing that.”

“It would have been like me fighting Buggy.” Observed Zoro. While he could understand Luffy's want to fight on his own without help, if he knew that he would be at a disadvantage that meant he wouldn’t even be able to hit his opponent… There was no shame in getting help in that case. He knew he was lucky that every crew they had faced had either involved a swordsman, or he had been forced to decimate a high number of low-level grunts, but if he had to fight a sniper or someone that made swords useless like Buggy, and there was another person on the crew that could fight with him, he wouldn’t refuse their help.

“Is there a way for me to learn Armament Haki before the fight? I don’t think I will find water in the desert.” Asked Luffy.

“It would take most people at least a month to learn enough Haki to activate it in life or death situations, and we have days at most.” Answered regrettably Drake. “I don’t want to take your fight from you, I understand that it’s your right as a Captain to face Crocodile, but I want to ensure his defeat more than anything. I will gladly step down if you find a way to fight him alone.” He conceded.

Luffy finally nodded, happy at the compromise. Having a crew meant he didn’t have to do anything alone, but he still wanted to fight his own fights, to grow stronger with each opponent he faced.

~~One Piece~~

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were all fishing, a lump on their head from their attempt at stealing from Sanji’s kitchen. While they had managed to avoid the chef, there was no misleading Drake’s observation haki, and he had had no shame in denouncing them as having come into the kitchen during the night. Since they had eaten most of the food and Drake wasn’t letting hunger be a reason to skip haki training, they were all hungry and cranky, Sanji throwing angry looks toward their back every few minutes.

“Come on. Let’s see what we still have in stock for the rest of our journey.” Said Drake, putting a reassuring hand on Sanji’s shoulder and leading him into the pantry.

A few minutes into their attempt to determine how to divide the little food they had to feed them for a day and a half without anyone growing too hungry, they heard a commotion outside. Drake stopped moving, his head cocked to the side as he listened to the new voice that had joined the familiar ones of the crew.

“Should we go?” Asked Sanji distractedly.

“They feel strong, but not threatening. Everyone else is outside, we will hear if anything happens and we are needed.”

They could hear Luffy, Usopp and Chopper happily laughing outside for a few minutes before Usopp’s shout of “Mr. 2” reached their ears. They watched each other in surprise for a second before running outside, only to see a ship getting away from them and everyone looking at Vivi with incredulous faces.

“What happened?” Asked Sanji.

“Mr. 2 was on the ship. Vivi had his exact description but didn’t match him with it.” Explained Nami.

“I never saw him before !” Repeated Vivi.

“He’s not really discreet.” Countered Usopp. “You don’t see okamas dressed to look like a swan every day.”

“He didn’t seem to know who we were, so he showed us his devil fruit.” Added Zoro with a smirk. “When he touches someone's face, he is able to morph his features to match theirs. But now that we know about his ability, we can take countermeasures.”

“What are you thinking of?” Asked Nami.

“He only copied our body. We should keep an object, something distinctive that we can show each other if we’re in doubt.”

“Why not a mark?” Offered Nami after thinking about it for a second. “We make a mark somewhere hidden on our body.”

“Are we sure he won’t be able to copy it?” Asked Drake.

“He didn’t have Nami’s tattoo.” Answered Usopp.

Sanji's head snapped up at that, looking at Nami’s shirt that was hiding half of her arms. “How do you know that?” He asked.

~~One Piece~~

Chopper looked at his left arm, where a bandage was hiding a dark X as a way to make sure that they could trust each other.

“Are you okay?” Asked Usopp, seeing the strange look on their newest crew member.

“I’m just not sure about how much I will be able to help.” He said, suddenly feeling insecure as the danger of what they were going to do registered in his mind, and the distant and unknown enemy suddenly took a face and was able to reach them on their ship.

“You just need to do the best you can to help.” Said reassuredly Usopp. “Not everyone can be as strong as Luffy or the others, but as long as you do your best, then it will be okay. Even taking out the weaker fighters is important to make sure that the other can focus on the more powerful ones.”

“And furthermore, you’re a doctor.” Added Drake, having overheard the conversation. “Even if you’re not able to defeat someone, you will be able to patch everyone up, and that’s just as important as fighting. But I saw your three forms, and your larger one seems to be rather strong, so I’m sure you will be able to help.”

“Oh, I haven’t shown any of you!” Said Chopper, blinking in shock. “I developed a medicine that allows me to access up to seven different transformations.” He took a small sphere out of his backpack. “I called it a Rumble Ball. When I eat one, I can transform for three minutes into four more forms than my usual.”

Drake just looked blankly at him for a few seconds. “That’s… I never heard of anything like that.” He finally said. “That’s truly genius.” He added quietly, triggering a happy dance from the small doctor and a volley of insults.

“There’s a lot of limitations on it, and I can’t take them often, but it’s definitely useful.” Explained bashfully Chopper.

“I don’t think that even Doctor Vegapunk, who is one of the smartest men alive and the one that discovered much of what we know about Devil Fruit powers, has thought about granting a Zoan more forms.”

“Wow.” Said Usopp, amazed. “Would that work for Drake too?”

“The idea behind it, yes, but I would need to tailor it to him for it to work. If the dosage is wrong, it can be disastrous.” Explained Chopper.

“I’d rather not test it.” Said Drake with a tight smile. “I had a hard time getting control over my Devil Fruit when I got it, I’d rather not transform partly into a dinosaur and lose control.”

“Yeah, I… I had an accident once, because of the Rumble Ball.” Said Chopper, suddenly oddly subdued. “Losing control of your Devil Fruit can be really bad.”

Usopp and Drake glanced at each other and decided not to question the now uncomfortable doctor further.

“Well, I’m going to ask Nami how long until we reach land.” Said Usopp awkwardly before leaving, Drake following him with a small pat to Chopper’s head.

Chapter Text

“I can’t wait!” Shouted Luffy excitedly as they entered the river leading to Nanohana, his eyes scanning over the part of the town they could already see. “Restaurant, restaurant…” He chanted happily, drool falling from the corner of his mouth.

“You wouldn’t have been so hungry if you hadn’t eaten everything we had.” Said Sanji, still angry about it.

“We’ll have to restock.” Said Drake. “And to buy clothes adapted for traveling in the desert. And to find a restaurant for Luffy.” He added, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth at his captain's enthusiasm.

“We won’t stay long in the Merry after this. We just need to stay near the coast until we reach Erumaru, and it won’t take more than half a day. Then I don’t know how long it will take until we can go back to the Merry.” Explained Vivi.

“I can deal with restocking on food alone then.” Said Sanji.

“And Vivi and I will go looking for clothes.” Said Nami. “What are you going to do?” She asked, turning toward the rest of the boys.

“Go explore, see if I can find anything interesting to tinker with.” Said Usopp.

“I think I’m going to explore too, see if there is anything new I can learn about medicine here.” Answered Chopper.

“I’ll follow you then.” Said Drake. “Unless you want to do something out there? I can keep guard on the ship.” He asked turning toward Zoro, earning a negative shake of his head.

“And I’m going to get FOOD!” Shouted Luffy, grabbing onto the rails of the Merry and rocketing himself toward the city before anyone could say anything.

“He’s hopeless.” Sighed Nami.

Chopper, Drake, and Ussop left in the same direction, quickly splitting from first Nami and Vivi, and then losing Sanji at a food stall. Drake was happy to follow the small reindeer in Nanohana’s bookshop. The reindeer found a few books talking about plants specific from Alabasta, some of them talking especially about their usage in medicine. It took them less than an hour to see everything the market had to offer, and they reunited with Usopp halfway through their tour.

They waited at the edge of the market where they had separated and were joined a few minutes later by Sanji, Vivi, and Nami, all three holding various bags.

“Did any of you see Luffy?” Asked Nami as soon as they got close enough to hear.

“No, but there’s noise coming from there.” Said Drake, pointing toward a large street next to them.

Soon, they could all hear shouts and the sound of people running. Luffy suddenly came running into their street, a man with a marine uniform and floating above the ground following him.

“Is that…” Asked Drake, shocked as he recognized the power the marine used.

“Everyone!” Shouted Luffy, barreling toward them.

“Don’t come near us!” Shouted back most of the crew, Drake still too shocked at seeing Smoker floating toward them. His brain restarted and he instantly turned away, ducking his face to hide it behind the fur of his coat.

Suddenly a flash of fire flew toward Smoker, stopping him in his tracks.

“We need to run.” Exclaimed Sanji, prompting them all into action.

It took them a few minutes to get back to the ship, and Drake’s mind was reeling the entire time. He and Smoker had been friends, Smoker being a few years older than him but the fact that he started in East Blue and his attitude had slowed his rise through the ranks, while Drake had been a shooting start despite his past hindering him. Last he knew, he had been sent back into the East Blue, and had decided to stay in Logue Town to prevent pirates from crossing Reverse Mountain. He certainly wasn’t expecting to meet him on the Grand Line.

As they reached the ship, Vivi shouted to Karoo to get out.

“What happened?” Asked Zoro, watching them all being slightly out of breath, while Vivi was talking to Karoo and giving him a piece of paper.

“Smoker was here.” Explained Sanji. Zoro’s eyebrows rose at that.

“Who is he?” Asked Chopper.

“A Marine from the East Blue.” Explained Sanji. “He tried to capture Luffy once, but we managed to escape. He had a reputation for being in the East for years, so we weren’t expecting him here.”

“What was the fire that stopped him?” Asked Usopp as they all climbed up the ship.

“That’s my brother!” Exclaimed happily Luffy. Everyone fell down at that, shocked. “I didn’t know he ate a Devil Fruit, I haven’t seen him in ages.”

“You have a brother?” Yelled Nami and Usopp at the same time.

“I don’t even want to know what kind of monster he has to be, to be Luffy’s brother.” Muttered Zoro.

Luffy was nodding, his smile even bigger than usual. “Oh, yeah, Ace is super strong! I never won a fight against him even when I had my Devil Fruit and he didn’t have one.”

“Ace?” Repeated Drake. He had been too distracted by Smoker to pay attention to anything else, but someone named Ace having fire powers, he could only think of one person. Someone landed on the railing behind Luffy, confirming Drake’s ideas.

“Long time no see, Luffy.” Said the stranger with a blinding smile.

“Ace!” Exclaimed Luffy.

“Your brother is Fire Fist Ace?” Choked out Drake. He could feel part of the crew reacts in shock behind him.

“Second commander of the Whitebeard pirates?” Said Sanji, his cigarette falling out of his mouth.

Luffy just cocked his head to the side. “Whitebeard?”

“How haven’t you heard of Whitebeard?” Shouted Nami.

“He is the strongest pirate of the Grand Line.” Explained Ace. He hadn’t expected Luffy to know Whitebeard, his brother tended to be rather uninformed. “He is the man that I will make the Pirate King.” He said with a smirk.

“Then I will have to fight you both.” Answered Luffy, unconcerned by the challenging tone.

“He would be happy for you to join his crew, so I’m extending an offer to all of you.” Ace said, his gaze swiping over the rest of the Straw Hats.

“No thanks.” Answered flippantly Luffy.

Nami facepalmed at him rejecting an offer from one of the Yonko so easily.

“I didn’t expect anything else.” Answered Ace, not bothered by the immediate refusal. “So.” He started, his eyes returning on the crew that was watching him. “This is your crew. I must thank you for looking after my brother.” He said with a formal bow. They all scrambled to bow back to him.

“It’s no problem, really.” Said Nami awkwardly.

“I wanted to see you Luffy, but I must get going.” Said Ace, before fetching something from the back pocket of his shorts and holding it out for Luffy. “Take this. It will allow us to reunite one day.”

Luffy took it, looking at it oddly. “A piece of paper?” He questioned.

“Don’t want it?” Said Ace teasingly.

“No, no, I’ll take it.” Answered Luffy, his hand closing over it to make sure Ace couldn’t take it back.

“You said you must be going, do you have something to do here?” Asked Sanji.

“I’m looking for a man, going by the name Blackbeard.” Answered Ace, his face suddenly serious. “He betrayed Whitebeard and killed one of the commanders. He was part of my division, and I must catch him and bring him back so he can be punished.”

The Strawhats watched him seriously, Drake hissing through his teeth. Killing someone that was in your crew, that trusted you to have their back… He hated people like this, who really had no honor and followed no code.

Ace looked undisturbed at the sudden more serious atmosphere his words had created, and gave them a two-finger salute before jumping from the Merry into his own vessel which he powered by his own fire powers.

“What was that that he gave you?” Asked Nami when Ace had disappeared on the horizon, the crew surrounding Luffy to look at the gift.

“It’s a Vivre Card.” Recognized Drake.

“What’s that?”

“That is something really rare, and can be powerful if it falls into the wrong hands.” He started to explain. “Hold it in the palm of your hand.” They all watched as the piece of paper started to twitch in Luffy’s hand.

“It moved!” Exclaimed Luffy, surprised.

“It moves in Ace’s direction. You’ll just need to follow it to find him again. It can’t be destroyed by conventional means, but if it ever starts to burn, it means that Ace’s life is in danger. The smaller the piece becomes, the closer he is to death. If he gets better, the piece will become full again.” He explained.

“Useful.” Said Zoro.

“We need to go before the marines catch us.” Suddenly remembered Nami, and they all went to get the ship ready to sail.

“What’s the plan for now?” Asked Drake.

“We need to get to Yuba. We can’t access it with the Merry, so we will need to stop at Erumaru, then cross the desert for about a day until we reach Yuba.”

“Is that where Crocodile is?” Asked Sanji.

“No, that’s the main base for the rebel army.” Explained Vivi. “I need to get there and talk to its leader, to convince them that they are being manipulated and that my father isn’t the one responsible for what’s happening.”

“You can’t believe that you will succeed.” Said Zoro, incredulous.

“Don’t talk to Vivi like that, shitty swordsman.” Started to say Sanji, only to get cut off by Drake.

“Vivi, you can’t argue with an army of 700 000 people to stop fighting. You can’t negotiate with people that are so angry at the government that they start rebelling.”

“How could you know?” She asked angrily. Drake clenched his jaw, but didn’t answer. He had seen it as a marine, how violent the people could become, and how once they were part of a mob they would all rile each other up until they no longer were able to listen to reason.

“I know the leaders of the rebel army.” Said Vivi. “We are childhood friends, and if I tell him that my family isn’t responsible for this, he will listen to me.” She said forcefully.

“And will the rest of the rebellion listen to him? If he just tells them to stop fighting, that the king isn’t the bad guy here, but can’t give proof to this? It’s not reasonable.” Argued Drake.

“I need to at least try!” She shouted. “I won’t let my people kill each other if I can prevent it.”

“We’ll do what you think is best.” Interrupted Luffy.

Drake huffed, but kept quiet. She was losing time, valuable time that they could spend looking for Crocodile and making sure to stop him before he could do anything else.

Chapter Text

They barely stopped at Erumaru, the town deserted and covered in sand. Vivi had explained that it had once been famous for its vegetation, but because of the lack of rain it had slowly died out. The fact that soldiers carrying Dance Powder had been found out had angered people, and most of the town had left to join the newly created rebellion.

They left Erumaru after a small pause, and started walking once again in the desert. The heat from the day was hitting them all strongly, Chopper and Ussop being the most affected, or at least the ones complaining the most. But with Vivi leading the way, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Drake following her pace without complaint, the rest of the crew was forced to walk quickly less they get left behind. This was why despite the heat, they managed to reach Yuba in a couple of hours.

Yuba seemed to be in an even worst state than Erumaru. Or at least, from what they could see. A sandstorm was raging in the town, and even from their vantage position at the top of one of the surrounding dune, they could barely see the house from behind the sand.

“It’s huge.” Said Nami, her eyes wide.

“We need to get somewhere safe.” Said Vivi. “We can’t risk getting caught in it if it moves toward us.” However, the sandstorm seemed to stay over the town, and they kept watching it safely from behind the dunes.

“There’s something strange about it.” Said Nami. While she had never seen a sandstorm before, she was sure that it was going in the opposite direction of the wind.

Drake extended his haki and frowned. “It’s not natural. I can feel a presence in it.”

“Crocodile ?” Asked fearfully Usopp.

“Probably. He can control sand, so he is probably able to create sandstorms.” Answered Sanji.

“He could destroy entire towns with his power.” Remarked Zoro.

Drake pointed toward Yuba. The sandstorm was starting to slow down, and they finally could see the town appear from behind the winds. It was in a similar state to Erumaru, a lot of houses destroyed and the rest overrun with sand. “This is exactly what he is doing here.”

“We need to find the people living here.” Said Vivi, before starting to run down the dune.

“Are there even people there ?” Asked Zoro as they all followed her.

“I can only sense one person.” Answered Drake quietly.

Sanji grimaced next to them. “If the rebels already left the town to clash with the army... ”

“That’s no good.” Said Chopper.

~~One Piece~~

Just like they sadly expected, the town was alone safe for one old man who had introduced himself as Toto. The old man had recognized Vivi quickly, and they seemed to know each other, although their connection hadn’t been made clear. Vivi still was shocked to hear that the rebels had left the town.

“The constant sandstorms were too destructive for them to stay here.” Explained Toto. The Straw Hats looked at each other, all thinking the same thing. If Crocodile had been responsible for the sandstorm they had seen when reaching Yuba, it wasn’t a stretch to think that he was also responsible for the previous ones. Which meant that he had pushed the rebel army to leave Yuba and was going to try to force the confrontation with the king’s soldiers.

“Where did they go ?” Asked anxiously Vivi.

“Their new base is next Nanohana.” Toto answered.

“Nanohana !” Shouted Nami. “But we were here just a day ago.”

“We need to get back there.” Said Vivi desperately.

“We can’t go now, the sun is about to set.” Reasoned Nami. “Let’s spend the night here, and then go back into the desert tomorrow.”

Luffy had a pensive face on, but followed his crew in one of the empty houses without saying anything.

The next day, however, when Vivi tried to make them leave Yuba to go back to Nanohana, he sat cross-legged on the floor, crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Vivi determinedly.

“I’m not moving.”

“What ?” Asked Nami, shocked, as they all turned to watch him.

“I said I’m not moving. I don’t want to go back to Nanohana.”

“What are you talking about ? We need to stop the rebellion.” Said Vivi, coming to stand in front of him.

“Do you truly believe everything will be okay if we reach them ?”

“I have to at least try !” She shouted back.

“You have ? Vivi, you’re not alone in this ! If talking to one guy was all it took to prevent this war, you wouldn’t need our help.” Vivi swallowed nervously at that.

“Crocodile planned this for years, it won’t be this easy. The only way to stop this is to beat him up so he can no longer manipulate everything !” He continued.

“Vivi, even if you manage to convince the revolutionaries leader, Crocodile just needs to find another person to act as a leader in his stead.” Said Drake, not saying that he didn’t believe that she could convince him. He might be a childhood friend, but to lead a rebel army as big as this one, you couldn’t let feelings get in the way.

“If he still has access to the Dance Powder, he only needs to use it a few times and the people will grow angry again.” Continued quietly Nami.

“We’re here for you, Vivi.” Said Luffy, his eyes locking with hers. “Use us.”

Vivi nodded, tears in her eyes. “Okay.” She whispered. “If you want to defeat him, then we need to go to Rainbase.”

~~One Piece~~

“Oh, Nami, I finally ended what you asked of me.” Said Usopp as they neared Rainbase.

“What’s that ?” Asked Chopper, as Usopp grabbed three blue pipes from his bag and handed them out to Nami.

“That’s a new weapon. I called it the Clima Tact. You can reunite the three parts to be used as a staff, or you can use them separately, I wrote a notice on how it works.”

“You should try it now.” Advised Drake. “Before you get into a real fight.”

Nami looked up, surprised, before she turned toward Usopp.

“Hmm, sure.” Said the sniper. “Most of it is just tricks, but given your knowledge of weather I thought you could do something with it. You can create small, cold balls when you do this…” He started to explain, Nami nodding alongside his explanation.

It took him the remaining part of their travel to Rainbase to explain every functionality he had designed, and when they reached the town he barely gave them the time to breathe before exclaiming that he would bring them water, Luffy following him with a shout.

“Is it really a good idea to let these two do this ?” Asked Nami.

“You were too involved in your discussion with Usopp to hear it, but Luffy wouldn’t shut up about being thirsty for the last half an hour.” Said Sanji, shrugging. “They should be able to go drink and bring us something, I trust at least Usopp not to get distracted.”

“They’re coming back.” Informed Chopper, his nose twitching as he felt their familiar scent get near, ported by the wind.

Drake unconsciously focused his observation haki on them, only to flinch in surprise as he felt another presence.

“Fuck.” He said heartfully. “They’re bringing-” Luffy and Usopp suddenly appeared in the street next to them, followed by Smoker and a group of marines. “-Smoker.” Finished lamely Drake.

“Scatter !” Shouted Luffy.

Nami and Vivi started running toward Crocodile’s casino, Luffy and Usopp following her. while Sanji, Chopper, Drake, and Zoro went in the opposite position.

While most of the marines tried to follow them since they seemed to be the bigger group, Drake was happy to see that Smoker had chosen Luffy’s group instead of his own. They easily evaded their pursuers, but they suddenly fell upon a group of civilians that attacked them.

“Baroque’s Work !” Shouted Sanji as he saw their marks.

Less than a minute later, they looked down at their unconscious adversary. Sanji has put his hands in his pockets in the middle of the fight, while Drake has only got his sword out, his axe staying firmly at his side.

“Wasn’t Zoro with us ?” Asked Chopper.

“Chopper, he managed to get lost half a dozen times while we were traveling to Yuba, you shouldn’t be surprised at this point.” Said Sanji.

“I found a Den Den Mushi.” Said Drake, crouching above one of the unconscious Baroque’s Works members and showing them the sleeping snail.

“You think they have Crocodile’s number ?” Asked Sanji.

“Why would you want to call him ?” Asked Chopper.

“I already faked our death once before.” Explained Sanji. “He probably knows now that we’re still alive, since we met Mr. 2.”

“The rest of the crew went to his casino. They might already be facing him.” Said Drake, ignoring Chopper’s gasp of surprise. “Do you have a plan ?”

“We can fake my death do draw him out.” Started to say Sanji, thinking out loud. “We’ll act like one of the Millions managed to defeat me, and try to lure Crocodile outside. If Luffy and the others haven’t found him yet, they’ll probably meet him on his way. I don’t think they’re fighting now, there’s too little chaos.” He answered.

“Hmm, smart.” Said Drake, before he looked at Chopper. “You could play Sanji’s role since you’re able to transform. Get his attention on your larger form, run away and once you’re safe enough, get into your smaller form to evade him.”

Chopper nodded, and Sanji took the baby DenDen from Drake’s hand.

“Hello ?” He said in the receptor. “Can you hear me ?”

“You’re one of the millions, right ?” Asked a woman's voice, and Drake hit the back of Sanji’s head to force him to refocus when his eyes started to turn into hearths.

“I’ve never used a baby Den Den Mushi before.” He said to distract her from her question.

“What happened ?” Asked a man's voice, and Sanji’s head snapped up to look at Drake, a triumphant look on his face as he recognized Crocodile’s voice.

“Oooh, I’ve heard that voice before.” He said with a shit-eating grin. “Welcome sir, this is the shitty restaurant.”

“Shitty restaurant…” Repeated Crocodile, before making a small noise as he remembered.

“Nice, you remember me.”

They heard a small, muffled sound coming from the Den Den, but couldn’t identify what it was.

“Who the hell are you ?” Asked Crocodile angrily.

“Me ? I’m…” His eyes suddenly avoided Drake’s. “Mr. Prince.” He said.

One of Drake’s eyebrows rose at that. He wouldn’t have thought that Sanji would have referenced his birth this casually.

“I see. And where are you, Mr. Prince ?” Asked Crocodile.

“Oh, I can’t tell you. You’ll come to kill me if I do, won’t you ?” Said Sanji, trying to bait him outside. “I don’t think you’ll be able to, even if you find me, Mr. 0.” He said tauntingly.

“Mr. Prince !” The voice of Luffy suddenly came out of the baby Den Den, and they looked at each other in shock. “We’ve been captured, we don’t have much time left.”

“Hmm, that sounds like my crew.” He said with a calm he didn’t feel. “Well, I will need to-” He cut off as Drake dropped a body next to him, and gave a small cry.

“Tough bastard.” Muttered Drake as he took over the baby Den Den Mushi, gesturing at Sanji to start running away toward the casino.

“What should I do with him, sir ?” He asked.

~~One Piece~~

Smoker's head snapped up as he heard the new voice on the Den Den. He knew this voice, but it couldn’t be…

“Where are you ?” Asked sharply Crocodile.

“I’m at the front gate of the casino called “Rain Dinners”, in Rainbase, sir.” Said the voice, and Smoker gritted his teeth. It definitely was Drake’s voice, but he couldn’t believe that the man would have joined a Shichibukai’s crew, given his stance against them before he left. However, he would never have thought that Drake would leave the Marines either, and look at what had happened.

Crocodile and his partner left the room without a backward glance, and Luffy ordered Vivi to leave too and to try and get help. She started to run back into the casino, before running right into Drake. “Drake !” She gasped, relieved. “Luffy and the others are-”

“We’ve heard.” Interrupted Sanji.

“Show us where they are.” Said Drake.

Vivi grabbed Sanji’s hand and started to run toward where Luffy and the other had been trapped in a cage, explaining what had happened while they got separated.

“Drake !” “Sanji !” Nami and Usopp shouted happily when they saw them on the top of the stairs.

Drake met Smoker’s gaze for a second, the two glaring at each other before he looked toward Nami.

“Do you know where the key is ?” He asked her.

“Crocodile threw it into the water and one of the bananadiles ate it.” She despaired.

“Third one on the right.” Grunted Smoker.

The water that was rising in the room was high enough to prevent him from making a full transformation, but he could still call forward part of his Allosaurus, and Drake shifted his eyes, the glacial blue becoming a mix of yellow and orange. The bananadiles in front of him stopped in their attempt to attack him, frozen, as they felt a bigger predator, some part of their brain that had been unused since the dinosaurs disappeared waking up. He cornered the one he wanted, a bloodthirsty grin making the others run away back under the water.

The cornered reptile opened his mouth wide in a desperate attempt to protect itself, and Drake used this opportunity to stab the inside of his mouth with his sword. The bananadile reared back, and Drake swung his axe on its now uncovered belly. It threw up what he had eaten, not only a small key that Drake snatched as it flew past him, but also a white ball, that cracked open to reveal Mr. 3.

They all frowned when they saw him, but Drake ignored his relieved shout of being alive to try the key in the cage lock.

“Bastard.” He muttered. “It’s not the right key.”

“What !” Shouted Luffy.

“But he only threw one key down there.” Said Usopp.

“He never planned on you getting out of here alive.” Said Drake. He then threw a surreptitious glance at Mr. 3 who was trying to escape discreetly.

“Mr. 3, right ?” He asked, the man freezing in fear at the sound of his name. “Aren’t you able to create the key to this cage using your wax powers ?”

Mr. 3, clearly remembering how he had lost against Drake, even with the help of Mr. 5, nodded tightly.

“Come here.” Said Drake with a tilt of his head, his hand resting innocently on the hilt of his sword.

He opened the door of the cage, and they all looked around desperately. The water that was dripping into the room had now reached Luffy’s knee, and the wall wouldn’t stand for long against the pressure outside.

“We need to get out before the wall breaks.” Said Usopp, just as the wall broke and water erupted into the room.

“Zoro, get Smoker !” Shouted Luffy as he got swept up by the strong water current.

Nami grabbed onto him before he could get too far away from her, just as Sanji started to swim toward Drake. He grabbed the zoan by the back of his coat, getting a better grip on him by clinging to him with one arm around his middle. Zoro, who had a grip on a catatonic Smoker, pointed up, and they all started to swim toward the glass ceiling that had broken under the pressure.

They reached the outside, Vivi having joined Nami in helping her to drag Luffy up. The Devil Fruit users quickly regained consciousness, coughing up water.

“X Drake.” Said Smoker, his eyes blazing with fury as he watched his former friend and marine turned traitor.

“Smoker.” Drake acknowledged, before turning toward the rest of the Straw Hats. “Chopper is acting as a distraction for Crocodile, but it won’t last long.”

“Don’t you dare ignore me, you traitor.” Shouted Smoker, walking toward Drake and pushing him harshly.

“Once you start to open your eyes and look at the fucking world around you, I’ll talk to you. Don’t you dare act like you care about traitors after your last years of service.” Said Drake coldly.

“What is that supposed to mean ?” Asked Smoker before Drake could turn back to ignore him in favor of talking to his crew.

“You stayed I don’t know how many years in Logue Town, preventing weak pirates that wouldn’t last a week in the Grand Line from entering, while other pirates were running havoc in the East.” He answered. “The first time you left is when Luffy managed to escape from you, so you clearly care more about reputation than doing your duty. Don’t act so high and mighty when you’re just as guilty as the higher up of ignoring the corruption running rampant in the marines.”

Smoker had taken an angry red color, but before he could answer a battalion of marines ran toward them.

“You going to fight us ?” Asked Drake, his glare locked onto Smoker.

They stayed like this a few seconds, ignoring the shout of the marines and of Nami and Usopp that were urging Drake to run.

“You saved my life.” Finally said Smoker, his eyes leaving Drake’s to look at Zoro. “I’m letting you go, just this once.” He tried to look toward Drake, but the zoan was already walking away from him.

~~One Piece~~

“Everyone !” Shouted a small Chopper, jumping high into the air to grab onto Zoro’s face.

“You’re safe.” Said Sanji, relieved. He had trusted their doctor to evade Crocodile, but it hadn’t sat well with him to know how risky it was.

“What do we do now ? Do we try looking for Crocodile once again ?” Asked Drake.

“We need to get to Alubarna.” Revealed Vivi. “The rebel army is going there, and he said that the royal army would answer… I asked my father not to fight in the letter I wrote, but given Mr. 2 powers, he could have overrode it.” She said with a frown.

“How far away is it ?” Asked Nami.

“Probably a day.” Answered Vivi, biting her nails in distress. “We’re going to get too late to prevent the start of the fight, but Crocodile is going to go there, so we will find a way to stop the fight after it had started.” She said determinedly.

“I made a friend !” Revealed Chopper. “While I was at the border of the city, I found a moving crab. I can ask him to take us to Alubarna.”

“A moving crab ?” Asked Zoro.

“They’re really fast, it would take him only a few hours to do the journey.” Explained Vivi.

They quickly located Chopper’s friend once they reached the border of Rainbase and went to leave the city on its back.

“Duck !” Shouted suddenly Drake one of his hands shooting out to grab onto Vivi and tackling her on the back of the crab, a golden hook appearing where she was just a second before.

“Crocodile !” Shouted Luffy, grabbing the hook as it went to attack Vivi once again.

“Sanji.” Said Drake as he pushed Vivi onto his arms, one haki covered hand stopping the sand around them from becoming solid around Vivi. “Keep her safe !”

The sand around them was picking up, a sandstorm in the making, and soon the moving crab would no longer be able to move. They couldn’t risk being scattered by a sandstorm and Vivi being taken away from them.

“Drake.” Said Luffy with a tilt of his head before he jumped off the crab’s back, one hand still holding onto Crocodile’s hook.

“We’ll reunite in Alubarna.” Ordered Drake, jumping after Luffy before anyone could protest.

“No ! Luffy, Drake !” Shouted Vivi, Sanji’s arm around her middle the only thing preventing her from going after them.

“We need to get back to them !” Said Nami, turning toward Chopper that was holding the reins of the crab.

“No, we’re still going to Alubarna.” Said Zoro.

“We can’t let-” Started Nami.

“We won’t be able to help.” Interrupted Sanji. “It’s their fight. We need to stop the rebel and royal armies before they can clash.”

Chapter Text

Luffy and Drake were standing, the moving crab quickly disappearing behind their back. In front of them were Crocodile and his partner, Miss All Sunday.

“Former Rear Admiral X Drake.” Said Miss All Sunday, Luffy twitching in surprise at that, even though his gaze never left Crocodile. “I wouldn’t have thought that someone with a 90 million beri bounty would work with a small crew like this.”

“Nico Robin.” Answered Drake. “You would know all about working with people with smaller bounties than yours, wouldn’t you ? 79 million is a respectable amount, especially for someone that young. ”

“What do you think you are doing here.” Asked Crocodile, bored with the display.

“We’re going to kick your ass.” Answered Luffy, cracking his knuckles. “For everything you did to Vivi.”

“What I did to her ?” Repeated Crocodile with a laugh. “I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m just a businessman, keeping this country afloat in those hard times caused by the Nefertari family.” He said with a smirk.

“Is that what it is called these days ?” Asked Drake.

“I don’t care what you’re saying. Vivi’s suffering because of you. She tries so hard to keep her people from fighting, and she won’t succeed until I beat you up.” Said Luffy seriously.

“Well, you’re lucky I’m busy.” Said Crocodile, throwing an hourglass on the ground. “I won’t have the time to play with you sadly, I’ll have to kill you in three minutes. Nico Robin.” He turned slightly to see his partner from the corner of his eyes, ignoring her frown at being called her real name twice in a day. “Go forward, I’ll join you soon.”

“Gum Gum Pistol !” Shouted Luffy as soon as Robin left, her fist passing through the side of Crocodile’s head. The Shichibukai transformed his body into sand, flying toward Luffy. Drake, that had been ignored until then, used this opportunity to fling his haki covered axe toward Crocodile. It hit him in the torso, sending him flying a few meters away.

“Rear Admiral, huh.” He said, glaring at Drake and cleaning a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth. “Sables !” He shouted, the start of a sandstorm forming into his hand, quickly gaining volume.

“I won’t let you !” Shouted Luffy, his hand passing through Crocodile’s arm in an attempt to prevent him from forming his attack. Crocodile had to send the sandstorm before it could truly form toward Drake, slowing him in his attack. He then sent a blade of sand toward Luffy, his hook clashing with Drake’s axe as he split himself in two to avoid a swing of his sword.

“You’re annoying.” The Shichibukai grunted, his right hand shooting toward Drake’s body. The zoan jumped back, his instinct warning him of the danger even if he couldn’t see what kind of attack coming.

Crocodile then grimaced as his head was split in two by one of Luffy’s fist. He turned around, Luffy barely avoiding the golden hook that would have pierced his heart, only cutting through his shirt. It turned out to be a mistake when Drake used this as an opportunity to grab onto him, preventing him from turning into sand, as Luffy used his position low on the ground to kick him in the middle. Crocodile grunted, his right hand once again trying to touch Drake, but this time the zoan didn’t let him deter him. He shifted into his full allosaurus form, his tail surrounding Crocodile, one of his claws catching Crocodile’s hand before he could be touched. He knew that by increasing his size, he was making himself vulnerable to whatever attack Crocodile wanted to do by touching him, but he needed to immobilize him long enough for Luffy to do his damages.

His captain didn’t waste time, sending his arms far behind him and slamming them forward into Crocodile. The impact sent Drake stumbling back, surprised at the strength behind it, and he lost the concentration required to keep his haki on both his tail and claws. Crocodile didn’t hesitate, and despite the pain he was in he instantly shifted into sand.

“You’re pissing me off.” He grunted, a scowl on his face as he saw that the until now forgotten hourglass that had already run its course. “I’ll have to end this now. Desert Girasole !” He shouted, a blade of sand appearing out of his right hand before he stabbed it into the ground.

“Wha-” Started to say Luffy, as the sand under him started to collapse on itself, dragging both him and Drake into the ground, while Crocodile was floating above them, his body half transformed. The Shichibukai started to laugh as he watched them both being dragged into the quicksand, Drake shifting back into his human form in an attempt to slow his descent down.

“Shit !” Swore Luffy, his arm stretching in an attempt to grab onto something above them, Crocodile laughing as one hand passed through his body, watching them both disappear under the sand.

Less than a minute later, the quicksand had transformed back into normal sand, and Crocodile was the only thing moving in the desert.

~~One Piece~~

Drake gulped for breath as his head finally reached air. He had stopped moving as soon as he had transformed back into his human form in an attempt to stop his burial. Shifting back into his allosaurus form once the sand had stopped moving around him had allowed him to move the sand above him, even if his back was still hurting from the weight he had to carry. As he had shifted once again to his human form to start moving up, he had felt something supporting his weight and helping him move. He watched around him, seeing a figure standing a few meters from them just as Luffy got out of the sand next to him and started coughing his lungs out.

“Why did you help us ?” He asked as he recognized Nico Robin. Or at least, he was pretty sure it was Nico Robin. The lack of air was making black spots appear in his vision, and the sun was directly behind her, showing only her slim silhouette and her hat.

“Tell me, Monkey D. Luffy.” She said, ignoring Drake. “What do you know of the will of the D ?”

Luffy blinked at her uncomprehendingly, and she sighed.

“Nevermind.” She said, looking up at the person approaching them on the back of a bananadile.

“You !” Shouted the newcomer, jumping off the back of the bananadile and pointing his sword toward Robin. “What did you do to princess Vivi ?”

“You’re in no state to fight.” Robin noted coldly. “You should take care of them.” She pointed toward the tired Drake and Luffy. “They’re the ones responsible for bringing your princess back into this country.” She informed him, jumping on the back of one of Crocodile’s bananadile.

“Did you really bring princess Vivi back ?” Asked the stranger. Luffy nodded. “Then I must thank you. My name is Pell, I’m one of the head guards.”

“I’m Drake, this is Luffy.” Drake said, pointing toward the ground where Luffy was still resting, too tired to move. “We need to get to Alubarna as fast as possible.” His gaze landed on the piteous looking Luffy. “And find something to eat, as well as a barrel of water if possible.”

“Meat.” Agreed Luffy.

Pell nodded at them. “There is a small town on the road toward Alubarna, we will find what you need there.”

~~One Piece~~

Vivi was scrambling to reach the floor with her feet, Crocodile dangling her above the edge of the palace by her neck. She was trying to grab onto his arm, but as he opened his hand, his arm transformed into sand, preventing her from saving herself from the fall. She could hear his laugh as she fell, her eyes closing to prevent more tears from falling.

She had failed. Crocodile was here, Luffy and Drake dead and buried somewhere in the desert, her people were still fighting, and despite the rest of the StrawHats acting as a distraction to give her this opportunity to save them all she had still failed.

A shout of “Crocodile !” made her open her eyes. She struggled to focus through the tears, but she could see a flying form getting closer.

“Luffy !” She shouted happily as she recognized him and Drake sitting on Pell’s back. Luffy jumped after her, hugging her close with one arm, the other stretching toward Pell, catching Drake’s outstretched hand.

“Luffy.” She sobbed again once she was on Pell’s back. “The palace… A bomb is going to destroy the palace.” She informed them, watching Drake’s eyes widen in shock. “And I can’t stop the fighting…”

“Trust us.” Luffy said confidently as they reached the ground at the same time that the rest of the crew arrived at the bottom of the palace. “This time we’re going to win against him.” With a small tilt of his head, he indicated to Drake to grab onto him. His hands extended and he grabbed onto the edge of the building above them, and he flew both him and Drake toward the rooftop.

“I should have made sure you were dead.” Said Crocodile with a sneer.

“It would take more than a little sand to stop us.” Said Drake tauntingly stepping in front of Luffy for a second.“Neither of us are easy to kill.”

“You made Vivi cry.” Said Luffy, getting out of behind Drake. “I’m going to make you pay for this !” He shouted, jumping toward Crocodile. The Shichibukai barely gave him attention, his eyes keeping track of Drake’s every move, not wanting to get trapped again. It proved to be a mistake when Luffy’s fist smashed into his head instead of passing through it. He grunted under the impact, flying for a few meters before he righted himself.

His eyes narrowed. Strawhat hadn’t been able to hit him the last time, and it has only been hours.

“Water.” He noted. It certainly explained the barrel on his back. Water wasn’t a real problem, but he needed to be careful not to get caught by surprise. Taking out one of the two fighters against him would ensure his victory, and they didn’t seem to be aware of his ability to absorb water. He would only need one touch and those nuisances would no longer be a problem.

Drake stayed behind, watching Luffy fight. He wasn’t planning to get involved until Luffy lost his water and no longer could fight alone.

A shout of “Desert Spada” from Crocodile made him jump back as a sand blade destroyed the floor where he was standing just seconds before. His haki sharpened to keep track of Crocodile’s moves as he turned his head to look toward where Robin was standing, a man he could recognize as Nefertari Cobra stuck to the wall by daggers stabbed into his clothes. The sand blades had missed them by a few meters, but Crocodile’s power was far too destructive to risk fighting him next to bystanders.

He moved to put himself between them and Crocodile, ready to call his armament forward as soon as he felt Nico Robin try to attack him, not trusting her to stay out of this fight.

Luffy attacked Crocodile once again, but the Shichibukai avoided the attack, and put his right hand on Luffy’s arm.

“You think water is my weakness ? As if I wouldn’t take steps to protect myself from something this obvious.” He taunted as he started to dry Luffy’s arm.

Luffy cried out in pain, his eyes wide as he looked at his mummified arm. He drank water from his barrels for a few seconds, relieved to see his arm getting back to normal. It still felt strange, like his skin was too tight, and he shivered. He dunked water on it and the feeling disappeared.

His eyes narrowed. Crocodile might be able to dry the water around him, but he doubted he was able to dry himself, which gave him an idea. If it worked, it would make the fight easier, and if it didn’t, he still had Drake as a backup.

“Try to protect yourself from that !” He shouted, jumping toward Crocodile, his fist cocked back as if he planned to attack him once again. Crocodile thrust his hand toward him, ready to dry him up, and wasn’t expecting him to suddenly rotate his body to avoid the hand and to throw his water barrel.

Crocodile spluttered as he got drenched in water, his slick black hair falling into his face.

“You bast-” He started to say, but a Bazooka from Luffy silenced him and sent him flying further away.

Luffy ran after him, Drake following behind him, not wanting to get too far away just in case.

His attention focused on the fight, Drake was taken by surprise when he felt two hands appear on his shoulder to put him in a chokehold. His reflexes alone prevented him from being choked, his armament haki activating just as they tightened on his throat.

Robin froze, shocked as black appeared on her hands. She tried to move them, but they were stuck crossed against her chest, just as the pair she had made appear on Drake were frozen.

He turned his head to look at her, her hands feeling the powerful muscles of his neck strain against her. “Not a good idea, that.” He informed her.

She struggled to move her arms as to break the connection between them, but couldn’t, and was forced to dismiss her additionals arms by sheer willpower, something she hadn’t done in years. As soon as they disappeared in a flutter of petals, she could move her arms again. She clutched her hidden dagger in her hands and backed toward the king. Drake didn’t move toward her, and as soon as she felt far enough from him to have the time to move if he attacked, she let her dagger go, crossing once again her arms, only this time to make two arms appear on each side of Nefertari Cobra, grabbing the dagger stabbed into his shoulder and removing them to hold them against his throat in a threat not to move.

“I’m not staying here to watch them fight.” She said coldly.

“I won’t let you go to wreak havoc somewhere else.” Countered Drake. “And I’m certainly not letting you get away with the king as a hostage.”

They were distracted from their argument when the floor under them trembled, and they all looked toward where Crocodile and Luffy where trading blows, only to see Crocodile crouching, his right hand flat against the floor, as the ground around him transformed into sand, the vegetation drying up further and further away from him, showing the progress of his attack.

Luffy had to jump over the edge of the building to get far away enough not to get hurt by the attack, one of his sandals having already disappeared, and Drake jumped toward Crocodile, Robin already forgotten, in an attempt to stop his attack before it would force Luffy to dive. from the building. He swung his axe toward him, forcing Crocodile to jump back to avoid it, and a glance assured him that Luffy was still grabbing onto the edge of the building.

He could see that while Crocodile was still partly drenched in water, he had removed his coat and was already drying up thanks to the heat. Luffy’s advantage wouldn’t last long, and when the teenager landed back next to him on the rooftop, he could see that Crocodile had given out as many hits as he had taken, a large gash probably caused by Crocodile’s hook steadily dripping blood onto the ground. While Crocodile had been hurt by Luffy’s blunt force and the damage was internal, the only proof of it the blood staining the corner of his mouth, the Shichibukai was a Grand Line veteran, and they couldn’t afford to underestimate his stamina.

“Luffy. Let me help.” He half-asked, half-ordered, his hands clutching his weapon while he waited for permission from his captain. A backward glance showed that Nico Robin had disappeared while he was distracted, taking Cobra back with her. “I’ll be more useful here than on the sidelines.”

“Let’s go.” Acquiesced Luffy, both of them jumping toward Crocodile at the same time. Crocodile easily parried Drake’s sword with his hook, ducked to avoid Luffy’s leg coming from the side, and tried to touch Drake with his hand as the zoan couldn’t move back without dropping his sword. Drake twisted his body, not able to move properly because of Luffy’s body still at his side, and Crocodile managed to grab onto his leather coat. He snapped his arm back harshly, Drake losing his footing and almost falling on him, which would have freed his hook enough to pierce his heart through his back had Luffy not dragged him back at the last second to avoid what would have been certain death.

“You pathetic rookies think that by using water you’re robbing me of my chances to win, but I don’t need to avoid getting hit to kill you both.” Crocodile taunted, a smirk on his face as he grabbed onto where his hook was linked to the larger round base, twisting it slightly and detaching it. He threw it away, revealing a smaller hook inside. It was silver, with a purple hue when hit directly by the sunlight, and was full of holes.

“With that, I’ll only need one hit to kill you.” Crocodile informed them, moving his left arm to show them purple poison coming out of it. “And you didn’t even manage to keep yourself from being hit when you were alone.” He taunted Luffy, before his gaze stopped on Drake. “Surrounding yourself with arrogant fools who thinks that knowing the basis of haki will be enough to fight me won’t help you survive.”

Crocodile jumped toward them, a blade of sand forming into his right hand. He sent it toward Drake, forcing him to take a step back, attempting to hit Luffy with his hook at the same time. The two Straw Hats evaded his attacks and launched their counterattack.

While Drake couldn’t use his allosaurus form, as it increased his size too much and he didn’t want to make it easier for Crocodile to pierce him with his hook, his hybrid form only had advantages. He wasn’t sure how his scales would interact with poison, but it was still better than naked skin. Despite Crocodile’s taunts, he was confident in his armament haki, but he still knew that if the fight dragged on for too long, or if he was taken by surprise, he could be vulnerable.

Luffy seemed not to care about his own protection, nearing Crocodile without any attempt to shield himself. Not that there was much he could do, but he had started his attack before Drake, not letting the zoan get in between him and Crocodile’s poisonous hook.

Crocodile avoided the fist by mere centimeters, but couldn’t dodge the knee that lodged itself in his guts. He coughed up blood, bend in half under the strength of the impact, and Drake used this opportunity to grab his back with one hand, his claws piercing his gloves and sinking deep in the Shichibukai’s skin. He used his grip to drag him back until Luffy was out of his hook range, and tried to stab him with his sword. Crocodile however had recuperated enough to grab onto his coming wrist with his right hand as the sword started to cut through his skin, attempting to dry him.

It took Drake half a second to call forward his Haki, and the only thing preventing his arm from being completely dried up in that time was the fact that scales were covering his skin, offering an additional layer that Crocodile had to dry. He shouted in pain as the grip on his wrist tightened, his armament haki barely enough to prevent his arm from being further dried up. He quickly lost strength in his hand, his sword falling uselessly on the ground.

However this byplay had given enough time for Luffy to prepare his next attack, and Drake still had his grip on Crocodile’s back. The Shichibukai had no way to avoid the multiples fist coming his way, and Luffy’s cry of “Gum Gum Gatling !” was the last thing he heard before losing consciousness.

The two still standing fighters panted a few seconds, before Drake dropped on his knees next to Crocodile’s unconscious body.

Chapter Text

“Well, that hurt.” Drake grimaced as he looked at the strange form of his arm. His scales had lost their brilliant green color and had become a dull grey, and they seemed too big on his shriveled up arm. “We need to find water somewhere.”

“What do we do with him ?” Asked Luffy as he looked at Crocodile, unconscious at his feet. “We can’t risk him waking up and we need to go rescue the hostage guy.”

“The King ?” Asked Drake, surprised at the way Luffy had described him. “If we find a pond or something, we can tie Crocodile up and drop him in it, it will prevent him from escaping. Nico Robin probably went into the palace garden, it’s the only place she could have reached without us noticing.” He grabbed his sword from the ground, awkwardly putting it back into the place at his side with the wrong hand. Luffy grabbed the back of Crocodile shirt, and started to drag him on the ground in the direction of the royal garden, Drake trailing after him, cradling his arm close to his chest.

“Finally.” Groaned Drake as he dipped his arm into a small pond of water. Luffy dropped Crocodile next to him. “I have normal handcuffs.” Said Drake, holding them out.

“Why do you have that on you ?” Asked Luffy as he bound Crocodile’s arm behind his back.

“Because I can’t have Sea Stone ones.” Luffy nodded at that as if it made sense.

“Do you know where they went ? Miss Sunday and the King.” He asked.

“All Sunday.” Corrected Drake absentmindedly as he flexed his fingers, glad that they were back to normal. “The huge hole with stairs in the ground seems to be a good place to start searching.”

“What even is this place ?” Asked Luffy, looking around him as they descended the stairs.

“It seems old.” Agreed Drake. “The Nefertari family has been reigning over this country for hundreds of years, who know what kind of secrets they are hiding beneath the palace. Nico Robin is an archeologist, it’s no wonder she’s interested in it.”

“Arche-what ?”

“Archeologist. She is interested in the lives of people that lived a long time ago.” Explained Drake.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, before voices reached them.

“Is this all this country is hiding ?” Asked Robin. Drake and Luffy stopped walking, staying behind a pillar that hid them mostly from view, as Robin rested her hand on a large rock engraved with strange writing.

“Were you looking for something else ?” Asked Drake, as he resumed walking into the middle of the room, Luffy on his heels. Robin kept silent, her posture defensive even if she kept her arms at her side.

Drake started walking around the room, getting between her and the king, looking at the huge stone in the middle. “Is that what the archeologists of Ohara were looking for ?” He knew that they were destroyed because they had gained knowledge that was forbidden by the World Government, and given Robin’s bounty at such a young age, it wasn’t a stretch to think she possessed this knowledge too.

“I’m looking after the Rio Poneglyph.” She revealed after a few seconds. “It’s the Poneglyph that tells the True History of the world, and reveals what happened during the Void Century.”

“Void Century ?” Asked Luffy, that had moved closer to her once he saw that she wasn’t trying to flee.

“A century that started 900 years ago and ended 800 years ago. The World Government had deleted every piece of information about it, but these stones are the only remnant of it. I’m the only one that is able to read them.”

“And what is this one saying ?” Asked Drake.

Robin’s face became stonier. “Only the history of this country.”

Drake could see on the King’s face - and they all had forgotten that he was in the room with them for a moment- that it definitely didn’t tell the history of Alabasta, but whatever it was, if Crocodile had been after it, it couldn’t be anything good.

“What do you want to do ?” Drake asked, turning toward Luffy. “She worked with Crocodile to throw this country into a civil war.”

“So, you beat Crocodile.” She said. “Are you aware of his plan to destroy the palace ?”

“A bomb, right ?” Asked Luffy.

“I’m willing to tell you where it is hidden if you let me go.” She bartered with a sly smile.

“Sure.” Said Luffy after a few seconds. His arm extended and he grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Let’s get you to somewhere safe while we stop the rebellion.” Said Drake, coming to stand behind the now released Cobra.

As they went back outside, they saw a guard standing nonplussed above Crocodile’s still unconscious body.

“King Cobra !” He exclaimed once he saw them.

“Chaka.” Answered the king, a relieved smile on his face. “I was worried about how hurt you were.”

“I’m fine. What are we doing about him ?” He asked, pointing toward Crocodile.

“Do you have seastone cuffs ?” Asked Drake.

Chaka’s face answered for him.

“Crocodile’s weak in the water, and unable to shift into sand. If you don’t have access to seastone, the best way to contain him is to keep him here. The marines will probably have cuffs for him.” He informed them.

“And what about her ?” Chaka asked, looking toward Robin.

“She’s helping us now.” Said Luffy. His arm extended until it looped a few times around Robin’s middle, and with the other he grabbed the side of a building, starting to stretch his arm to Rocket himself toward the middle of the battlefield. “Drake ?”

“Let’s go. I’ll tell you if I can feel where the crew is once we’re closer to the streets, there’s too many people fighting there for me to pick them out.” Drake answered, grabbing onto Luffy with an arm, the other resting on his shoulder next to Robin in case she tried anything.

“You should aim for the clock tower.” Said Robin calmly, not looking too worried about the prospect of being Rocketed toward the street. Her composure didn’t even break when Luffy stopped resisting the pull of his extended arm and with a shout of Gum Gum Rocket sent them all flying toward the clock tower.

They landed at the bottom, a grunt of pain following their arrival.

“Luffy !” Exclaimed Nami, watching as the three stood up, a heavily bandaged Usopp having brokered their fall. “What is she doing here ?” She then asked as she saw Robin standing next to them, Drake keeping a grip on her shoulder.

“It’s fine, she’s helping us.” Explained Luffy, Nami turning a worried gaze toward Drake, who only nodded in confirmation.

Vivi frowned, but kept silent.

“Nami-saaan ! Vivi !” Shouted a voice, and they all looked up to see Sanji leaning at a window, a few floors above the ground.

“Sanji-kun !” Shouted back Nami, relieved.

“What are you doing there ?” Asked Usopp.

“Ah, everyone. I’ve been looking for you guys.” Said Zoro before Sanji could answer.

“It’s no good, they can’t get inside the tower from where they are.” Grimaced Vivi.

“Even if they reach the top, they won’t be able to do anything.” Informed them Robin. “The Mr. 7 and Miss Father’s Day pair is up there ready to fire the bomb toward the palace, but there is a timer on it in case they fail to shoot it. Even if you stop them before 16h30, the bomb will explode a minute later.”

“What ?” Shouted everyone on the ground in shock.

“Do you know how to disable it ?” Asked Vivi.

“No I don’t, and I don’t think anyone knows, not even Crocodile. His goal is to destroy this country, so he never planned a failsafe for stopping this.”

“We have less than two minutes before it explodes.” Said Vivi panickedly as she looked at the clock above them.

“We need to get the bomb away from the people fighting.” Said Drake, his brain working overdrive to find a way to save everyone in that timeframe.

“I just need to send it into the desert, right ?” Asked Luffy, his eyes focused on the moving hands.

“What are you planning ?” Asked Nami.

“You need to send it in the desert, far enough that you won’t get hit by the blast.” Answered Drake, tense as he guessed what Luffy wanted to do.

“The bomb is hidden just behind the clock. They plan to open it in the last second before shooting it toward the palace.” Informed them Robin.

“Luffy…” Started to say Usopp, as the captain send his arm, grabbing the edge of the floor where Zoro was standing.

“Gum Gum…” He muttered, as he backed a few steps. “Rocket !” He shouted, shooting past Sanji, then past Zoro, until he was aligned with the huge clock. He grabbed one of the hands and pulled himself by his arm, crashing into the clock and landing on top of the unsuspecting Mr. 7.

“What ?” Shouted Miss Father’s Day, her frog-shaped gun still pointing toward the ceiling, too shocked to aim toward Luffy.

He looked at the huge bomb in front of him that was easily as tall as him. Miss Father’s Day finally came out of her shock, but didn’t have the time to react before Luffy grabbed her shoulder, his other arm grabbing Mr. 7, and threw them both out of the tower through the clock, creating two new holes in it.

“Okay, let’s get that out of here.” He said to himself, one hand grabbing a handle coming out of the bomb and carefully dragging it out of the cannon until it was resting on his knee, then he let it down gently on the ground. He opened the latch and pushed the clock out of the way, creating an opening big enough for the bomb.

“I need to get enough speed to get away, and fast…” He looked at the ground, where he could see his crew waiting at the bottom of the tower, and the people of Alabasta fighting further away.

“Nami is going to kill me for this.” One hand extended to grab the top of the tower, the other getting a firm grip on the handle of the bomb, and he dragged it just on the edge of the opening, jumping as far away from the tower as he could manage, sending it and himself hurling toward the ground. He could hear the cry of his friend under him, and when he reached the last floor of the clock tower, his arm muscles strained, slowing his fall down. A few meters above the ground, he finally lost all his speed, and got snapped back up. The angle allowed him to get past the tower and instead of only going up, he flew toward the desert.

A glance toward the timer showed that he had less than thirty seconds left before it exploded. The weight started to drag him down, and he waited a few more seconds before dropping the bomb into the desert. He knew that it was far enough from the city to destroy anything, but he still needed to get himself out of the exploding range.

He tried to keep a mental count, but before it could reach zero, the bomb hit the ground and exploded. He was far enough not to get caught in the immediate range, but the force of the explosion blasted him, sending him flying further away from the city.

Drake closed his eyes for a second as the sound of the explosion reached them. Next to him, everyone was watching the sky, waiting for Luffy to reappear. He focused his observation haki, trying to find Luffy’s presence despite it probably being several hundred meters away.

“I can feel someone alive in the desert.” He revealed after a few seconds of intense concentration.

“L-Luffy ?” Asked Chopper.

“I think so.” He answered. “We still need to stop the fighting.” He said, distracting them from the fact that he wasn’t sure that it was really Luffy, even if he didn’t think it was someone else, and focusing them on what they were here to do.

“Nobody stopped.” Said Vivi, looking around desperately.

“We need to get you somewhere visible, so you can try to calm them.” Said Nami, looking around.

“The best way would probably to get on top of a building and get their attention.” Said Zoro as got out of the clock tower.

“Let’s go too, keep Vivi-chan safe in case Baroque’s Work minions are still out to get her.” Said Sanji.

Drake grabbed Robin’s shoulder, making sure that she couldn’t run off. Sanji looked back toward them, ready to protest, but Drake’s glare stopped him.

~~One Piece~~

Chopper inhaled a few times, his nose twitching.

“What is it ?” Asked Usopp as he looked down toward him.

“I think… I think it will start raining soon.”

“What ?” Shouted Vivi, Nami, and Usopp at the same time, the rest watching him in surprise.

At the same time, they reached the top of the stairs and got to the rooftop of one of the buildings circling the main place where everyone was fighting. They all looked up to see grey clouds quickly gathering above them.

“That’s unnatural.” Noted Nami, feeling the lack of wind around them.

“Couldn’t someone have gotten their hand on Dance Powder ?” Asked Sanji, turning toward Robin.

“Crocodile was keeping most of it for himself, but there is a ship carrying Dance Powder around.” She informed them. “He used it to create rain in the sea away from Alabasta to prevent natural rain from forming in the country.”

“Why would someone use it now ?” Asked Vivi, looking up.

The cloud above them finally broke, rain falling down on the battlefield. A strange hush fell over the fighters, all shocked and looking up toward the rain, before cries of joy resonated through the place.

“That’s your chance.” Said Usopp, his eyes wide as the war finally stopped for a few seconds.

“EVERYONE !” Shouted Vivi, her voice clearly heard by all of the people in front of them that turned their head to look at her.

“Please, everyone, stop fighting !” She shouted.

Murmurs of shock as people recognized their missing princess rose through the crowd.

“Both the Royal Army and the Rebel Army have been deceived, so please, stop fighting !”

Before she could continue, a shot ran through the crowd, the bullet cut by Zoro before it could hit Vivi.

“An organization called Baroque’s Work has infiltrated our country.” She informed the crowd as some started to raise their weapon again, most turning toward the rebel that had tried to shoot her. “They are trying to divide us, and have members in both armies to ignite the fight.” She explained.

“Princess Vivi tells the truth.” A new voice rose in the field, everyone turning once again, only to see Khoza standing heavily bandaged, a rebel helping him walk. “I’ve seen with my own eyes the traitors to this country wanting to pit us against each other. Rebel army, drop your weapons, we no longer need to fight.” He said, his voice steady despite the pain he was in.

There was a scuffle in the middle of the place as someone disguised as a Royal Guard rose his weapon toward Khoza, but both the rebels and the guard around him jumped on him, preventing him from shooting Khoza.

“Royal army !” Shouted Chaka as he reached the place, the Kind standing next to him. “Lower your weapons, but be careful of everyone in our rank wanting to reignite this fight.” He ordered.

“There’s no need to fight any longer.” Explained Cobra. “The true perpetrator behind this had already been beaten, and the rain will come back to our country. Let’s stand again peacefully next to each other, and help rebuild what has been destroyed.”

The StrawHats watched with smiles on their faces as the crowd below them calmed down and dropped their weapons, Vivi raising her hands toward her mouths to keep herself from crying too loudly, tears in her eyes.

“Come down.” Offered Sanji, gently guiding her toward the stairs.

Chapter Text

As soon as she was sure that the fight between the royal army and the revolutionaries of Alabasta had truly stopped, Vivi ran down the stairs of the building she was in, leaving the Straw Hats behind as she jumped in her father's arms. Khoza put one hand on her shoulder, and she grabbed him in a hug as well.

“So… It’s over.” Said Usopp, a relieved sigh leaving his lips as he watched a mix of guards and rebels standing side by side to keep their leaders safe. He staggered, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up to him, and only managed not to faceplant by leaning against the wall. They all fell down to their knees, Drake the only one staying up, and it was only due to the fact that someone needed to keep an eye on Robin.

“Now we just have to wait for Luffy to come ba-” Started to say Chopper from his position on the ground, lying on his back in his smaller form, only to get interrupted by a shout of “Everyone!”

They all turned their head, smiles appearing on their faces as they watched Luffy walk toward them without any additional injuries.

“ ‘m so relieved you’re fine.” Mumbled Usopp as he closed his eyes. Everyone was here, everyone was safe, and the sheer relief coursing through them after this ordeal was enough to make them all crash. In a matter of seconds, they all fell unconscious.

Luffy crashed against one of the walls as he stumbled. “Everything’s okay?” He asked tiredly, drinking in the sight of his nakamas. He hadn’t had the same to pay attention to them before because of the bomb, but he could see that while they all looked hurt, none of it seemed to be grave.

“We’re all fine.” Reassured him Drake with a smile. “It’s over.”

“Good.” He sighed, slowly gliding against the wall until he landed on the floor, fast asleep as well.

“What do you plan to do now?” Asked Robin, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight of the crew sleeping, so vulnerable, mere meters from her. Drake looked quite tired as well, understandable after such a fight, after such a win against Crocodile. She knew that if she wanted to, she would be able to snap the neck of most of them before he could react. The fact that all of them felt safe enough to fall asleep was astounding. Most of them didn’t even know why she had changed sides, didn’t have any proof that she wasn’t a danger to them, and yet they let themselves be vulnerable, trusting the word of their captain.

“Find somewhere safe to sleep and heal.” Answered Drake, his gaze falling on Vivi on the other side of the place. She caught his eyes, and he gestured at her to come. When he saw Robin’s unsatisfied, maybe even frustrated look, he sighed. “What we’re going to do to you? I have no idea, Luffy’s the one who makes the decisions. You helped us despite having no reason to, you warned us about the timer which gave us enough time to act without any casualties. He’s not going to hurt you or let you get hurt. At the very least, he’s going to let you go on your way, we might even help you escape the Marines.” He informed her.

He hadn’t missed the presence approaching them, a mass of confusion, uncertainty, fear, but determination as well.

“Straw Hat Luffy.” Said Tashigi as she stopped next to them, looking at the unconscious body at her feet. Drake turned to face her fully, Robin keeping her to the corner of her eyes. She looked like she’d been hurt, but not too badly. Given the hateful glance she and the few marines accompanying her threw at Robin, he could guess who was the culprit. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, her fingers twitching a few times, but she didn’t draw it. Drake still shifted his stance a little, wearier. Temperaments were still running high, and he was ready to fight if he saw the smallest sign of aggression toward his crew.

She seemed to hesitate, threw a confused look toward Luffy, then another one toward Drake, before she sighed, and turned on her heels.

“We’re going to take the remaining Baroque’s Work agents.” She ordered.

“Starting by her?” “What about the pirates?” Asked the marines.

“We’re taking care of the rest of Baroque Work, if they’re still here when we come back then we’ll arrest them as well. That’s an order!” She snapped when they looked ready to protest.

“What is going on here?” Interrupted Vivi before she could face insubordination. “Those people have helped us stop the rebellion as well as Crocodile’s plot. They are under the protection of the Nefertari family.” She said, her tone firm, warning them that they wouldn’t like the consequences of trying to argue any further.

The marines looked unhappy at that, but while they had been willing to protest an order from their direct superior -and Drake didn’t want to know what it meant, that they were so willing to disregard Tashigi’s order, whether it was a reflection of her inability to lead her men or just the inherent sexism that existed in the marines- no one would dare oppose royalty. Obeying any order coming from a Noble had been the first thing ingrained in them, since their first day in the marine.

“If you play nice, you might even get to capture Crocodile, now that we defeated him.” Added Drake. It wouldn’t hurt to remind them that they had been the ones to put a stop to Crocodile’s plot, to one of the Shichibukai, someone who was supposed to work for the World Government. Someone who had threatened Alabasta.

Alabasta had a special status within the royalties of the world. The Nefertari family should have been Tenryuubito, a fact that no one here was able to ignore, and it hadn’t been the Marines that had acted in a time of need. Crocodile had had the right idea of hiding in the first half of the Grand Line, but had the Marines done their job correctly, it wouldn’t have taken much for them to ask for headquarters for an officer or two, even just to take care of the rebellion.

The marines bristled at the reminder, but before they could take offense Cobra interrupted. “I will let one of the Royal Guards know to guide you to where Crocodile is.” He said firmly, before turning toward one of the guards following him. “Let’s get them all to safety.” He ordered with a wave of his hand encompassing the sleeping Straw Hats.

~~One Piece~~

“Long time no see, Luffy.” Smiled Nami as their captain finally showed signs of waking up.

“Long time no see?” He repeated, still blinking the sleep from his eyes.

“You’ve been almost for a little over a day and a half.” Explained Usopp.

“Whaaaat … That’s like. 8 meals.” Said Luffy, shocked.

“How many meals a day is that?” Asked Nami.

“How is everyone?” Asked Luffy, tilting his head to peer around the room, ignoring her question.

“Zoro’s already back training.” Started to explain Nami. “Sanji is talking with the cooks of the castle, Chopper with the doctors. Drake is keeping an eye on Robin in the next room, Vivi kept getting upset each time she came here and saw her, so they’re trying to keep out of her sight.”

“Robin?” Asked Luffy, slightly surprised that she was still there. But he had seen her with the rest of the crew, before he crashed from exhaustion.

“Hmm hmm. Drake didn’t let the marines or the royal army get their hands on her. He told us that you were the one that should decide what to do with her.”

“She’s nice. I want her to join us.” He told them brightly.

“WHAT?” Shouted together Nami and Usopp, just as Zoro entered the room, a screaming Chopper following him.

“What happened?” Asked the swordsman as he wiped the sweat covering his naked torso with a towel.

“ -and I told you not to move so much when you- oh, Luffy, you’re awake!” Exclaimed Chopper as he noticed him, his rant forgotten.

“Zoro, Chopper.” Smiled Luffy, glad to see them.

“He wants Nico Robin to join the crew.” Explained Nami.

“Really?” Asked Chopper, his eyes growing wide.

Zoro frowned, his eyes locking onto Luffy’s as he watched him seriously for a few seconds. “If that’s what you want, captain.” He finally said.

“How can you be so accepting?” Shouted Usopp.

“I’m sure he has his reasons.” He answered, shrugging. “We can’t prevent him from doing what he wants. We’ll just have to make sure that his trust is not betrayed.” He said, giving them all a hard glance, conveying that he included them all in his order.

“Vivi won’t like that.” Whispered Nami.

“I need to eat. And to tell Robin the news. And to eat. SANJI! MEAT!” Luffy shouted, jumping to his feet and getting out of the room, not caring now that no one was protesting Robin’s recruitment.

“Put a shirt on before going into a royal palace.” Sighed Usopp, watching Luffy’s retreating back with exasperation. He turned his head to look at Zoro’s naked torso, and amended “At least, he still has his bandages on, I guess.”

“ZORO! Your bandages!” Shouted Chopper as he remembered the swordsman.

“Did I hear Luffy shouting?” Asked Vivi as she came into the room.

“He just got up.” Answered Chopper as he jumped on a struggling Zoro with a roll of bandage.

“Where did he go? I wanted to thank him for everything he did.”

“Either to see Robin or Sanji.” Answered Zoro, watching Vivi’s lips tightening in anger.

“When you see him again, tell him that the chefs will prepare a dinner to celebrate his awakening.” She said tightly before leaving.

~~One Piece~~

“Well, that went better than I thought it would.” Sighed Drake.

“Hmm?” Asked Luffy.

“The meal. Didn’t you feel how tense everyone was at the start?”

“No, why?” He asked curiously. How could anyone be tense when there was food to eat ?

“Princess-san wasn’t happy with me being here.” Answered Robin calmly. 'And most of the crew was watching me suspiciously too’. “But it seems like your natural happiness and carefree attitude relaxed everyone.”

“Sure, everyone was enjoying themselves at the end.” Said Luffy happily. He had just eaten with his friend and nakamas, he had a good fight recently… The only it could have been better was if they had had their meal aboard the Merry.

“Please everyone, wait.” Shouted someone behind them, and they all turned around curiously to see a guard running after them. “The royal family wants to offer you the opportunity to take a bath in the palace’s best bath.”

“Hmm, sure.” Said Luffy, shrugging.

It wasn’t long before they were all half-naked, covered only by towels and looking in awe at the bath around them. The crew’s women, which now included Nami and Robin, had followed Vivi to go into another section of the room. Usopp and Luffy quickly ran off to get into the bath first, while the rest of the crew, the king Cobra and a still alive Igaram followed at a more sedate pace.

“Eh, Igaram.” Said Sanji with a sly smile on his face, his arm coming to rest on the other’s shoulder. “Where is the woman's bath?”

“As if I would tell you. Princess Vivi is there!” He shouted.

“It’s over that wall.” Answered Cobra, pointing toward one side of the room.

“Your majesty!” Shouted Igaram in shock.

“Let’s go.” Said Sanji, hearts already in his eyes as he started to run toward the wall, the king and Usopp following him. Igaram started to run after him, and Chopper and Luffy soon followed the fun, even if they didn’t understand what was going on. Zoro sighed from his position on the floor, looking at the empty space before him where Chopper was sitting getting his back washed just seconds before.

“They don’t have any shame.” Said Drake as he sat next to Zoro.

“You’re not going with them?” Asked Zoro.

“I’m not interested in women.” Answered Drake frankly. “And it’s not… proper, to do that.” He added, a small tint of red covering his cheeks. “What about you?”

“I’m only interested in swords.” Answered Zoro.

“...”

“I mean, interested in training. And fighting. With swords, to become the world’s greatest swordsman.” He added after a second of silence.

The shout of the others as they fell on the ground luckily prevented them from trying to continue this conversation.

“I don’t even want to know what Nami did.” Sighed Drake. He had no doubt in his mind that she had no shame.

“Witch.” Agreed Zoro, just low enough not to be heard by Sanji who was coming back with the others.

~~One Piece~~

“There’s someone on the Den Den Mushi that asked for you.” Said a guard as the crew was lazing around in their room. Vivi, having finally relaxed enough around Robin at one point during their bath, was staying with them.

“Hmm?” Asked Luffy.

“He said he was a friend.”

“A friend?” He repeated.

“It might be a trap.” Said Zoro.

“Let’s just listen to him.” Decided Luffy.

Sanji, who was the closest to the Den Den Mushi, answered it, only to hang up almost immediately when he recognized Mr. 2's voice saying “Hello” and laughing.

The Den Den started to ring again almost immediately, but this time Luffy answered, seeing that Sanji was refusing to do so.

“Hello? Who’s this? I’m Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King.”

“I’m Mr. 2. Wait, don’t call me that, the Marines are listening.”

“You’re the one who said it…” Whispered Zoro.

“What do you want?” Asked Luffy.

“I stole your ship!” Say Mr. 2 far too happily.

“What? You bastard!”

“Wait, wait, we’re friends, right? What do you think would have happened had I left your ship there?”

“The marines would have gotten it.” Answered Drake after a second of silence.

“Didn’t they let us go?” Asked Nami.

“The government will want to hide what really happened. They won’t trust Smoker to capture us quietly,” especially not if they know I’m here, “so they will send someone else.” He explained.

“Exactly!” Shouted Mr. 2. “I took your ship to the Sandora river. You can reach it from Alubarna through the desert, so the marines won’t be able to stop you if you leave discreetly.” He informed them, quite happy with his little plan.

“We’ll need to make a move tonight.” Said Drake. “Depending on who they called to catch us, they might be willing to make a move against the Nefertari family for hiding us, and we don’t know how long they’ll wait.” The Nerfetari weren’t quite Tenryuubito, so it was still technically illegal for them to hide pirates.

“We’ll get there in a few hours then, thanks Mr. 2!” Shouted Luffy as he hung up.

~~One Piece~~

“So you’re leaving.” Whispered Vivi as she sat, watching the crew getting ready to leave in secret.

They all froze for a second, turning to look at her.

“Vivi…” Started to say Nami before trailing off.

“I would have loved for you to stay longer.” Vivi said, a small but sincere smile on her face. “But I understand why you have to go now. I’m glad I’ve met you.”

“You could come with us, you know.” Offered Luffy quietly, but Vivi shook her head.

“I need to be here for my country. They finally have the chance to rebuild, I can’t let them face this alone.”

Luffy nodded after a second of seriously watching her face, surprising slightly the others by not insisting, but he could understand that Vivi had a reason not to leave.

Nami glanced down. While she wanted Vivi to stay, she couldn’t keep her away from her obligations. She knew all too well what it meant. She could have run away from Arlong, with her knowledge of the East Blue she would have been able to find an island far away from him, but she had stayed for Nojiko, for the other villages.

“You’re still one of us.” Luffy decided forcefully, showing them his arm, the black X on it barely faded from the bath.

Vivi nodded, and bit her lips to keep the tears from spilling.

“We’ll miss you.” Said Nami, and part of the crew went to hug the princess and say goodbye, Robin, Drake and Zoro staying back. Robin looked - maybe not uncomfortable per say, but she was definitely avoiding looking at the scene in front of her. Zoro and Drake, not used to showing affection openly, crossed their arms and waited for the others to say their goodbyes.

“I’ll guide you to the Duck Squad.” Said Vivi a few minutes and teary farewells later. “Please escape safely.”

~~One Piece~~

“My friends, you’re all here!” Shouted an over-excited Mr 2 from the railing of the Merry.

They all ignored him as they started to get the provisions that Vivi had offered them on the ship.

“Miss All Sunday!” He exclaimed, shocked as he recognized one of his former coworkers.

"Mr. 2" She said calmly, her usual mysterious smile on her face, though a little more sincere than usual when facing a member of Baroque's Work. She didn't have anything against him, even if the okama was rather strange, not like she despised some of the other Baroque Works' top agents. She was best suited for spying and assassination, as was Bon Clay when he took his job seriously, and she didn't like the ones that specialized in torture, like Miss Doublefingers.

"Did you see the Marines?” Asked Drake as he carried a box of food onto the ship.

“Ah, yes. You’re lucky I was there, really. They just arrived as the night fell. Who knows how long it would have taken them to get your ship! It took me a few hours to get it to safety here, and then to find the palace’s Den Den number, so they’re probably surrounding the whole country by now.” He explained.

“Is your crew near?” Asked Drake.

“They’re hiding closer to the entrance of the river.”

“Luffy!” Drake called, turning toward the Merry where the crew was loading their last provisions. “The Marines are probably waiting for us to reappear on the sea. We’ll have to fight our way out quickly before they gather all of their ships to where we are. The good thing is that they hadn’t had the time to really plan against our escape.”

“That’s fine. We’ll clear a way for the Merry to escape no matter what. Nami, will we be able to be quicker than them? I don’t want Merry to be hurt.”

Nami looked at the sky for a second, feeling the wind around her. “The wind is in our favor. We will be able to get behind their lines quickly if they’re facing us, but if they gave us chase it won’t be enough to escape. Their ships are fasters than ours.” She added, with a quick look at Drake to see if he agreed.

“So we’ll have to destroy them too much for them to give us chase.” Said Luffy with a smile.

“Let’s see what we are facing before doing anything.” Said Nami.

~~One Piece~~

“Well, here goes my hope that we could have gone past them undetected.” Sighed Nami as she watched the Marine ships starting to move near them.

Drake frowned as he watched the vessels behind them stay away. They shouldn’t have had the time yet to prepare their ambush, and they were able to go quicker than that, so why weren’t they already attacking… “Damn it!” He exclaimed when he saw other ships starting to get quicker until they were aligned with the Merry, and the ones in front of them quickly approaching.

“What is it?” Asked Chopper fearfully.

“That’s Hina - Black Cage Hina!” He shouted, loud enough for Mr. 2 crew to hear them. He could see the two Baroque’s Work agents recognize the name. “The ships will surround us and trap us between them to prevent our escape. And they’re not using regular cannonballs, but spears that will pierce the hull.” He warned.

A few seconds later, the first spear flew toward them, Sanji jumping high and kicking it off course.

“We won’t be able to attack, it will take everything to keep the spears from reaching us.” Sanji said. “They are too sharp for Luffy to send back with a Gum Gum Balloon, we will need to punch them away.”

“Okay. Everyone that can, protect the Merry.” Ordered Luffy. “Nami! Can we escape before they trap us?”

“They’re already in formation, it won’t take long for them to cut us off entirely. We need to create an opening.” She answered nervously.

“Me, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji will have to protect the Merry. Once all the marine ships start shooting, the spears will come from eight directions at the same time.” Explained Drake. “Robin, can you help us divert the spears?” He didn’t know the limitations of her powers.

“No, but I can help create an opening, I’ll be able to attack the marines directly on their ships once they get closer.”

“Okay. Usopp, start shooting at them. If you and Robin manage to sink one of the ships, it will create an opening.”

“Should we split?” Asked Mr. 2 from his ship next to them.

“Robin, try to sink another ship than Usopp.” Luffy ordered, the sniper having already run toward the canons. “We create two openings, and then split up, so they won’t know who to focus on.”

“We won’t be able to protect both ships at the same time.” Observed Zoro as he cut through another spear.

“I go with Bon Clay.” Decided Luffy. “I’ll help him protect his ship. You, Drake, and Sanji protect the Merry.” He said before jumping toward the other vessel.

Drake used his axe to send flying a spear, but he could see that they wouldn’t have long before it got too much. “Chopper, go downstairs. If one of the spears pierces the hull, you get it out and you fill the hole before water can get in it.”

The reindeer nodded, before shifting into Heavy Point and running toward the stairs.

“I hope Usopp manage-” Started to say Sanji as he kicked one of the spears, another flying a few centimeters past his head and burying itself into the Merry before they could react.

As if to answer him, a cannonball flew from the Merry toward the ship at the front, hitting one of them. It must have damaged something important since the ship immediately started to veer to the right, crashing into one of its neighbors.

“Good job, Usopp!” Shouted Zoro.

“Uhhhh… Yeah, of course, as if I was expecting anything else !” Shouted back Usopp.

“They’ll soon be in my reach.” Said Robin as she crossed her arms. “If I remember right, the helm should be… Right here.”

The eyes she had used to spy disappeared, quickly replaced by arms that incapacitated the two marines near the helm. She then spawned a few other arms, and turned the helm completely to the right. The other marines onboard started to react as they got closer and closer to one of the other vessels, but before they could reach the navigation room, Robin snapped her arms back. Her strength, multiplied far behind what she could normally achieve, was enough to rip off the helm out of its support.

“Luffy!” Shouted Zoro. “Time to split, now!”

The captain knocked out a few more spears coming toward Mr. 2 ship as it started to sail toward the opening created by Robin, before rocketing himself back into the Merry.

“We’ll make it?” He asked Nami.

“Yes, the current is just right, we should…"

They all watched, on their guard, as they managed to slip into the opening created by Usopp’s shot, the marine ship blocked behind them by the destruction and the debris in the water.

“We did it!” Shouted happily Nami as they started to put distance between them and the marines.

“Do you need help downstairs?” Asked Usopp as he went down the stairs. A couple of spears had pierced the hull, but Chopper had done a good job filling the hole before too much damage could be done.

“I’ll prepare a meal since we’re safe.” Declared Sanji as he lit his smoke. “Robin-san, what do you like?” He asked.

“I hope Bon-chan escaped.” Murmured Luffy.

“We created enough chaos for him to slip out.” Said Zoro as he turned his back to Sanji, deciding to ignore his antics for now. He had seen how charming Robin could be when she wanted, as even Vivi had relaxed in her presence, and the cook had no chance to resist her. But he would protect his crew from whatever danger they faced, even if the danger was one of them for now.

Chapter Text

“So.” Said Drake a few hours later. The night was starting to fall, and they hadn’t seen any marines through the day. Now, after dinner, they were all relaxed, and the most likely to go with what he wanted to do. “Since we all had separate fights and, given the number of injuries, they were all pretty hard, I think we should do a recap of what happened in Alabasta.” At the bland looks he could see on some of their faces, he explained more. “So everyone knows how we beat our enemy. We might have to face in the future enemies with similar powers for example, and having an idea on how to defeat them could help us fight. It’s also a way for everyone to know what we are able to do. If we have to fight alongside someone, having a clear idea of how strong they are is a must.”

“Hmm, sure, why not.” Agreed Sanji, and after trading a few looks, the rest of the crew nodded as well.

“I’ll start, I guess.” Said Drake. “So, me and Luffy fought against Crocodile. He is a sand logia, and was able to bury us in the desert during our first fight, but Robin helped us get out. I mostly tried armament haki then, and it worked before he was able to escape. Then we met again at the palace. Luffy tried to use water, but Crocodile is able to absorb water with his right hand. He still managed to drench him, and then we worked together to beat him up. He had a poisoned hook, but I was able to keep it away from us with my sword.” He explained. “The fight was hard since he had a lot of stamina and he kept fighting despite all the hits he took, but once he was wet and we knew to avoid direct contact with his hand and his hook, it went okay.”

He turned toward Luffy to see if he had anything else to add, but Luffy just nodded at his words. Hearing about the other fights would be interesting. He didn’t really care about the strategy or whatever, but it would be nice to know how his crew had defeated everyone. He was already proud of them, even without knowing the details.

“Well, I had to fight Mr. 1” Said Zoro. “He was a devil fruit user, a paramecia, and able to transform his body into steel. He was uninjured by most of my attacks, but once I managed to focus enough and learn to cut steel, he went down in one hit.” He said simply.

“I had his partner, Miss Doublefinger.” Continued Nami. “She was also a paramecia, and could transform every part of her body into spikes. I can create illusions thanks to the Climatact, but they don’t stay long. I still managed to evade most of her attacks, and then I used the Climatact to shock her a few times and win. I guess someone using observation haki would have been able to see through my illusions ?” She asked Drake. Robin twitched slightly at the second mention of haki, as she didn’t know what it was, but didn’t want to interrupt. She would have to ask Nami later, the navigator liked her since she had offered a few jewels before their meal at the palace.

“If they can afford to focus on you, yes. But if someone else is being the main fighter, and you stay back and try to land attacks when you can, they might not be able to spare the attention from their fight to try to find where you are.” He explained. “Good thinking.” He praised.

“Nami-san is so clever…” Swooned Sanji. “I fought Mr. 2. He has a fighting style similar to mine, using mostly kicks, and we were pretty much evenly matched. He tried to use his devil fruit a few times, but he needs to touch his hand to his face to change his appearance, and he can’t attack when he’s like that.” He said, leaving silent the fact that Mr. 2 had tricked him by using Nami’s face. “It was mostly a fight to see who was the quickest and had the most powerful kicks.” He said, shrugging.

“Me and Chopper went against Mr. 4 and his partner, Miss Merry Christmas.” Said Usopp. Part of him wanted to embellish what had happened, but he didn’t want to lie, since the fight had been hard, and he and Chopper had won fair and square against powerful opponents. “She had a zoan, and was able to turn into a mole. Mr. 4 didn’t have any devil fruit, but he was really strong. They also had a gun that had eaten a dog zoan.”

At that, the crew except for Chopper and Robin, who knew that he was telling the truth, Luffy that didn’t think for a second that Usopp could be lying, and Drake that had heard about objects eating devil fruits, rose their eyebrows. “I swear ! It was fucking weird. I don’t even know how that could have happened, but Chopper saw it too.” Chopper nodded, and they all turned more incredulous than disbelieving.

“I’ve heard of it happening before, but I’ve never seen it myself. It’s fairly recent research, done by the Marines, to transform weapons into animals using devil fruits.”

“Hmm, anyway, they worked together, she dug holes under our feet to trap us so he could hit us with his bat. We managed to trick them so he would hit her instead of us. Once he was alone it was easier to beat him. They weren’t very smart, mostly physically strong.”

“It is good to know that you’re able to win a fight against stronger opponents by being clever.” Said Drake encouragingly. “Chopper, anything to add ?”

“Uhh…” Hesitated the small reindeer. “I’ll have to train to go underground like that, but if my antlers keep growing I think I could be able to dig into the ground ? I’m not sure though...”

“That’s something you’ll have to explore.” Said Drake, smiling softly at the small reindeer. “Every fight we do make us stronger, and having new ideas like that is always good.”

“We’ll have to try that next time we land on an island.” Said Usopp. “See if I can create some sort of smoke bombs that would be usable through them without hampering you…” He took on a pensive face.

“So, Robin.” Said Drake as he turned toward her. She rose an eyebrow in a light show of surprise.

“I didn’t fight any Baroque’s Work agent.” She said with a teasing smile.

“No, but having an idea of what you are able to do would be a great help in a fight. I have an idea of what your Devil Fruit is able of, but I didn’t think you could crash a warship like that for example.” Drake explained.

“I hate the Hana Hana no Mi. I’m able to bloom various body parts around me.” She said, holding out her arm and making others appear at the elbow, to Luffy’s awe. Chopper and Usopp looked slightly awed as well, but they were still a little afraid of her, despite the meal they had shared together at the palace. “If we’re talking about powers, what is this haki that you mentioned ?” She asked, distracting them from asking any more questions.

“It’s basically the manifestation of your will. We’ll train in the next few days, so I’ll give you a more detailed explanation, but it’s the reason why you were unable to use your powers on me.” Drake said.

“Drake said that you helped them after their fight with Crocodile. And you told us about the bomb.” Said Zoro, sitting up from his slouched position against the back of his chair and coming to rest his elbows against the table. “You were his partner, and you betrayed him very easily.”

“Don’t talk to Robin-chan like that-” Started to protest Sanji.

“No, no, I want to know too.” Interrupted Nami. “I’m no stranger to betrayal, but you don’t go against someone as powerful as Crocodile if you’re not sure that you will come out at the top.” Sure, she liked Robin, she had gotten precious jewels from her, and having Vivi on board had habituated her to not being the only woman on the ship. But it also had habituated her to Vivi, and the princess had struggled too much because of Crocodile for Nami to accept Robin so easily.

“I’ve never been interested in taking over Alabasta.” Explained Robin. “I’m an archeologist and a historian at heart, and I wanted to gain access to a Poneglyph, which is one of the only remnants of the part of our history known as the Void Century. It had been hidden by the Royal Family since they became the ruler of Alabasta, and following Crocodile was the only way to gain access to it that I could see. He thought that the Poneglyph would give him access to a powerful weapon, and he wouldn’t have hesitated to kill me had I deciphered it for him.”

“And… Did you find what you were looking for ?” Asked Usopp.

“No.” Said Robin, a little more coldly than she would have liked. “I found the Poneglyph, but it didn’t talk about history.” She elaborated. None of them missed the implication of what it had really held.

“Talking about betrayal.” Said Nami, her sharp gaze focussing on Drake’s. “Smoker said something interesting when we met at Rainbase.”

Drake sighed, while Robin looked with interest at the byplay, not knowing what it was about. He had been expecting the questions, even before they met Smoker, since they weren’t a lot of people in this part of the sea that knew about Haki and even less that were able to use it. His encounter with Smoker had just accelerated the questions.

“I’ve worked for a few years with Smoker.” He started to explain, his gaze fixed on the wall while he tried to think of the best way to explain everything. His eyes snapped to the side, and he focused on Nami. “While I was in the Marines.” He added.

“So… You’re no longer one of them ?” Asked Usopp hesitantly. Given how they had met him, it wasn’t really a question.

“I left a little over two years ago.”

“What was your rank ?” Asked Sanji.

“Rear Admiral.” Answered Drake, earning a few looks of surprise. It was the highest-ranking Marines that they had met since the start of their journey.

“Is that high ?” Asked Chopper, seeing their reactions.

“There’s only the Vice-Admirals and the Admirals that have a higher rank.” Explained Sanji.

“You don’t seem surprised.” Noted Zoro as he watched Robin’s reactions.

“I keep myself aware of everything pertaining to the World Governments. His leaving was quite public and he earned himself quite the starting bounty.” Said Robin.

Drake shot her a betrayed look. He didn’t want to talk about his bounty. He hadn’t really cared at first, and the few times he had entertained the idea of becoming a pirate, he had thought that he would be his own Captain, so the higher the bounty the better. Now that he was only a crewmember, having a bounty three times higher than Luffy’s didn’t sit right by him. Luffy would get quite the raise for taking down Crocodile, but he would get one too since he had officially joined a pirate crew, so he wasn’t sure who would end with the highest sum. He just hoped that the Marines wouldn’t insult them all by calling him the Captain, but they might do it to try to hide the truth. Him joining a new crew was bound to raise questions.

“How high ?” Asked Zoro.

“90 million.” He admitted. “I made a very public exit.” He developed at their shocked look. “I learned as many dirty secrets I could about the World Government before leaving, and made sure that they couldn’t keep this quiet. They don’t like to lose face like that, and I could cause serious problems for them if I decide to reveal everything I’ve learned.”

“Why did you leave ?” Asked Nami. Everyone seemed interested at that, even more than they were about his bounty. Luffy was expressionless, but it was his default reaction when he was serious about something. He didn’t like knowing about his crewmates’ past, because it didn’t matter to him. But since Drake was willing to tell them, and they weren’t going behind his back to get the answers, he wouldn’t put a stop to it.

“The more you raise through the rank, the more power you get, and the more you learn about previous instances when the higher up used those powers to destroy countless lives. I was also getting closer to the rank when you have to interact with Tenryuubitos and I saw how despicable they really were.”

The rest of the crew traded look at that. They had heard about the Tenryuubitos, that they were the founders of the World Government or something like that, but didn’t see how the way they acted could lead to someone leaving the Marines.

“I don’t particularly like the Marines, but, I mean…” Fumbled Nami. “The higher the rank, the more people are aware of what you’re doing, right ? Are there really that many corrupted officers ?”

“Corrupt… Oh. No, no, I’m not talking about corruption here.” Answered Drake. “I’m talking about the government destroying entire islands and killing hundreds, thousands of people at the same time, with the full approval of everyone in the chain of command.”

A shocked silence followed his worlds. Even Zoro was too surprised to pay attention to Robin and see how tense she had become.

“Do they... Do they really do that ?” Asked Usopp, Sanji lighting a new cigarette behind him to calm his nerves at the difficult conversation. “My only interactions with the marines were… This guy from the Baratie who wanted to sink Merry, the one that took bribes from Arlong, and Smoker. Even if two of them were assholes, they didn’t seem to be the type to kill countless civilians. I mean, the one with Arlong didn’t seem to care if anyone died, but...”

Nami nodded at that. Nezumi had been a corrupt bastard, and Nojiko had been shot because of him, but he hadn't been the one to kill all the habitants of Gosa Village, even though he had turned a blind eye to Arlong doing it.

Drake had an ugly laugh at that. “You want me to tell you every massacre the government is responsible for in chronological order, or alphabetical ?” He took a long breath to calm himself. It wasn’t their fault that they didn’t know how ugly the World Government could be, most citizens, even in Paradise, were unaware. The people living in the New World, who were subjected to the whim of the Yonkos, were a lot more aware that they couldn’t expect help from the government, the opposite even. A rookie crew, fresh from the East Blue, hadn’t seen any of the horrors that plagued most of the islands where the marines were involved.

“On the top of my head, I can give you an example for every of the four Blue.” He added, more calmly. And then inwardly winced. He couldn’t remember anything other than Ohara for the West Blue, and it wasn’t his story to tell.

“What type of massacre are we talking about ?” Asked Nami in a small voice. She didn’t want to know, but felt that she should. Chopper had climbed on Zoro’s lap and the swordsman was distractingly hugging him with one arm, his fingers drumming nervously on the white hilt of Wado Ichimonji.

“Chronological it is.” He muttered, before taking a deep breath. “Twenty-two years ago, after the death of Gol D. Roger and the start of the Golden Age of Piracy, the World Government tried to find and kill everyone that had any kind of connection to the late Pirate King. They couldn’t capture most of his crew since they had escaped before his death. But a few months after he died, they heard rumors that Roger did a few travels to Baterilla, an island in the South Blue. Someone had the idea that he could have a woman on this island, and so the marines were sent there, to make sure that he didn’t have a wife, but most of all to make sure that he didn’t have a kid. And that if a child existed, to make sure that they didn’t stay alive for long.”

Chopper already had tears in his eyes, and the rest were tense, expecting the worst of the situation. Expecting to hear about the single murder of a child.

“The thing is, there were a lot of inhabitants on this island.” Continued Drake. “A lot of women, pregnant women or women that recently had a kid. Some were married, or at least had a fixed partner and could show that the child was his, but everyone that couldn’t give proof that their young child, or even their still unborn baby, didn’t have Roger as a father, was killed. Their child was killed too.” Chopper broke into sobs at that, Zoro pressing his small body into his side in an attempt to comfort him. Both Nami and Usopp were shocked, tears in their eyes, and while Zoro and Sanji didn’t show their emotions as much, their anger was clearly visible. Robin wasn’t reacting in any visible way, but a muted form of grief showed in her eyes.

The worst reaction came from Luffy. The Captain looked stricken. His eyes were shining with unshed tears, and he was tense, his clenched fist shaking in rage.

“They stayed a year there to make sure that no child of Roger could be born.” He concluded. He knew the exact number of children that died on Baterilla, he had gone there when he had started to doubt the government, had seen the entire fields of tombs. An entire generation, wiped out.

“Twenty years ago, in the West Blue.” He continued without letting them the chance to react. He wanted them to know, to understand that the World Government actions weren’t caused by panic because it was a problem related to Roger, but that destroying countless lives was their automatic reaction to anything they feared or disliked.

“There was an island, Ohara, where people tried to gather as much knowledge as possible.” He saw Robin twitch slightly in the corner of his eyes. “They learned something that the government wanted to keep secret. To ensure that they wouldn’t share it with the world, they destroyed the island entirely with something called a Buster Call, killing everyone on it. And it isn’t the first nor the last time a Buster Call was used to destroy an island, though it was the one which caused the higher number of victims.”

He kept the story short, not wanting to share too much without Robin’s approval but still wanting to tell them about all the people that lost their lives, once again because of fear.

“But the Marines don’t need to use weapons like that to kill everyone on an island.” He continued, ignoring Chopper distressed whine as he didn’t stop talking. “There was an island in the North Blue, Flevance, that was known as one of the most beautiful islands in the world. The main city, called the White City, was built entirely from a mineral called Amber Lead. Flevance became rich because they were mining the Amber Lead and selling it, as well as using it everywhere. However, the Amber Lead was toxic.” At that, Chopper turned his head slightly to look back toward him, the Doctor in him not wanting to miss anything even if he knew that it would end horribly. “It infected the first generation of miners, and they transmitted the poison to their children that were also infected by mining and using it everywhere. With each generation, the people were becoming sicker and sicker and their lifespan shortened, until the poisoning became strong enough to start to kill people. Everyone started to show symptoms at the same time, the youngest children dying before they could reach ten. The thing is, the government knew.” Nami gasped at that.

“When they started to mine, centuries ago, the royalty of Flevance and the World Government discovered that it was toxic. But the Amber Lead was beautiful, and the royal family of Flevance was rich, so they kept it hidden. When the doctors of Flevance, who were some of the best in the world, started to study Amber Lead poisoning, the World Government decided that they couldn’t risk anyone surviving and people discovering that they knew and did nothing to protect them. So they spread the word that the Amber Lead Disease was contagious to ensure that nobody would want to save the diseased, and they sent the Marines to Flevance, under the cover of helping the people. They told the children that they would be sent to a hospital to regroup them, and used the fact that the habitants trusted them and were grateful for their help, and then they killed everyone on the island.”

“Drake…” Started to protest Nami.

“Want to know what they did to the East Blue ? I don’t know if any of you ever heard of Dawn Island and the fire-”

“SHUT UP !” Shouted Luffy, his fist slamming on the table and breaking it in half. “Stop talking.” He ordered in a calmer voice.

Drake finally took stock of the people around him. Chopper had hidden his face against Zoro's torso, and both of the swordsman's arms were holding him tight against him, one of his hands resting lightly against the small doctor’s head. He was visibly upset, his other hand clenched into a fist on Wado’s hilt. He looked like he was two seconds away from jumping to his feet to try to fight an invisible enemy.

Sanji’s head was inclined toward the floor, turned slightly toward the wall so most of his face was hidden by his hair. He had at one point put a new cigarette in his mouth and was nervously flicking his lighter, not managing to make it work.

Usopp had lost all the blood on his face and looked on the verge of hyperventilating, tears running down his face. Nami wasn’t much better, and was clutching Usopp’s arm so tightly that it had to hurt. She was also openly crying, but seemed torn between anger and sadness.

Luffy was looking at Drake with eyes older than his age. No emotion could be found on his face, there wasn’t even any trace of anger left.

“Sorry.” Apologized Drake. It wasn’t like him to lose himself in his fury enough to miss how everyone had reacted to his words. “I didn’t want to-” He stopped himself before he could lie. He had wanted them to know, and to be upset, and to understand why he had left the Marines. “I only wanted you to know that I really left the Marines, and that there is no way I would ever betray you and join them again.”

“If you ever make me cry like that you will find yourself in my debt.” Threatened weakly Nami, and Drake smiled gently, taking it for the sign that he was forgiven that it was.

“So that’s why you were hiding in Little Garden.” Said Zoro.

“After I learned of all of those tragedies, I talked with a friend and decided to look for anything that could help destroy the World Government. I had to run when I got found out, and it took me around six months to reach Little Garden from Marineford. I knew nobody sane would set foot here.” He explained.

“You’re one of us now. We will keep you safe from anyone that wants to stop you.” Declared Luffy forcefully.

“Thanks Luffy.” Said Drake sincerely. He looked down at the ruined table at their feet. “I’ll have to fix that, since it’s kind of my fault it’s ruined.”

“I’ll get you a hammer and nails.” Offered Usopp as he jumped to his feet, trying to get the situation back to normal and to take a breath of fresh air to calm himself.

Robin watched the rest of the crew slowly trying to act as though nothing perspective-changing had happened. She had seen first hand what the government was capable of doing, but knowing that there were other disasters that were as big as the destruction of Ohara was… Maybe not surprising, but she hadn’t wanted to think about grand scale destruction, and the worst that she had seen since Ohara was the massacres done by Cipher Pol. It was still dozens of people at the same time, but not entire cities, entire islands.

Luffy’s will to fight was admirable, and it looked like Drake’s past was as dangerous for them as her own, but she still knew that she would be the one to bring ruin to this crew. She just hoped that they were strong enough to survive her.

Chapter Text

It had been two days since they had left Alabasta. The crew was starting to get used to Robin's quiet presence, and most liked her well enough. Zoro was the one the most recalcitrant to accept her, but she had been the reason why they had had enough time to prevent the bomb from exploding in the middle of Alubarna, and he was willing to give her a chance until he was proved otherwise. He was still keeping an eye on her and tended to nap in places where he could see most of the crew.

They were currently in the middle of training their Observation Haki and had been for a little under an hour. Most were trying to meditate, since having an idea of what your self felt like would help them all get better at sensing others. Only Luffy wasn’t, as they had quickly seen that he didn’t have the concentration for it, and Drake was doing the tried-and-true method of blindfolding him and hitting him until he learned to dodge. He would be doing the same to the others in a few minutes, starting with Zoro since he was the one most used to meditation and didn’t really need it, even if being in a focused mindset was always useful. The others would benefit more from a longer meditation time.

He wasn’t expecting much progress, just like the Armament training the day before hadn’t had any visible result. He wasn’t expecting them to make any progress, really, not until they got involved in a real fight where unlocking their haki was necessary, but now that they knew of its existence, the adrenaline would unlock the ability for them.

“Zoro, you’re next.” He informed him.

Luffy took the blindfold off with a pout. Knowing that he could learn Haki but not managing to do it was making him think back to when he was trying to figure out how his Devil Fruit worked. He knew he wasn’t bad at fighting, and once he had started to control his rubber ability he had progressed in heaps and bounds, but right now he was in the phase where he could see what was supposed to happen, but couldn't do it, and it was frustrating.

He gave the blindfold to his green-haired friend, walked toward Sanji and started to poke his face.

“Sanji. Ne, Sanji. Sanji?”

The cook’s eyebrows twitched in annoyance, and he slapped Luffy’s hand away.

“What?” He grunted, hoping that the teen would leave him alone to focus.

“Sanji, meat?” He asked hopefully.

“Make a full sentence, shitty captain.” Complained Sanji as he resigned himself to not being left alone until he started working on lunch.

“Sanji, I’m hungry, can I get meat?”

“Wait until lunch. And stop bothering us, we’re trying to meditate.”

Usopp and Nami had frustrated expressions on their face, Chopper had opened one eye to look at them, and Robin had a small smile on her face as she listened to them bicker. Zoro was too busy trying to dodge the small hit from Drake, with no success, to listen to what they were talking about.

However, given how focused he was on his body, he was the first to feel something small hit the top of his head.

“Is it raining?” He asked.

Nami opened her eyes at that. “What? No, the wind didn’t change and the sky is clear-” She stopped abruptly as she raised her head to look at the sky. The choked sound she let out made the others open their eyes and look up as well.

“What the-”

A huge galleon was falling on them. It was easily twice as big as the Merry and was quickly falling, its shadow growing bigger the closer the galleon got to them.

“Get us out of here!” Shrieked Nami. “Chopper, we need to go starboard!”

Chopper immediately transformed into Heavy Point and ran toward the rudder. The rest of the men jumped down the ship to reach the paddle and started to row as fast as they could, helped by Robin spawning a dozen arms. Nami grabbed one of the ropes that were attached to the smaller sail, the only one that she could hope to move by herself. She managed to turn it enough to catch the slight wind coming from the left, and they managed to avoid the falling ship. It fell only a few meters away from them, the huge wave created from the impact rocking the Merry for almost a minute.

“That was close.” Sighed Sanji as they rushed back on the deck to see the galleon sink right next to them.

“Where the hell did it come from?” Shouted Usopp.

“So scary…” Whined Chopper as he jumped in Zoro’s arms. “How far are we from the next island? I don’t want to stay on the sea anymore.”

“We shouldn’t have deviated from or course too much- no!” They all looked up when Nami shouted, but the sky was clear this time.

“What-”

“The Log Pose! The Log Pose is broken!”

“WHAT?”

“Look!” Said Nami, holding out her arm in despair. “It’s pointing up.”

“What?” They repeated, bewildered, getting closer to Nami to get a look at the Log Pose. It was indeed pointing toward the sky. Nami turned her hand around, and the needle moved around to keep pointing in the same direction.

“I’ve heard rumors of this.” Said Robin. “That there are islands in the sky, somewhere above the clouds.”

“Islands in the sky? What are you talking about?” Asked Nami.

“You should know not to doubt your Log Pose.” Answered Robin with a teasing smile. “The Grand Line is a strange sea, where logic doesn't apply. The only thing you can trust is your Log Pose.”

“But how would an island even be above clouds? We would see it from below.” Protested Nami.

“The galleon that just fell must have come from somewhere.” Objected Robin.

Before the two women could argue further to Sanji’s frustration (he didn’t know who to agree with) and delight (maybe they would start to physically fight), Drake interrupted them.

“Sky islands are definitely real.” He informed them.

“Really?” Asked Luffy with stars in his eyes.

“I’ve never been to one myself, but I know that a few Marines had been up there, mostly by chance. They wanted to send more people, since the ones who went up came back with new technology that would make the warships faster, but getting on a sky island was deemed too dangerous, and the World Government didn’t want to bother sending Marines somewhere that isn’t affiliated with them.”

“But- how could an island be above the clouds?” Wondered Nami.

“I honestly have no idea.” Admitted Drake.

“Maybe we could try to find a clue on the galleon.” Offered Robin.

“Like this map?” Asked Luffy.

“Sure, maps are always useful.” Answered distractedly Nami.

“Great, because the ship has already sunk and I don’t think we could find anything else.”

“Oh no-” Started to say Nami as she turned around to look at the galleon, only to see Luffy holding out an ancient map, the word “Skypiea” written in a corner. “Where did you find that?” She asked.

“On the ship. I told you I had a map.” Said Luffy, blinking in surprise at Nami’s reaction.

“We went to explore.” Developed Usopp while turning his boots upside down to get rid of the water.

“Skypiea.” Read Chopper from his position on Zoro’s shoulder. “Is that really a map of a sky island?” He asked in wonder.

“The name certainly fits.” Answered Sanji.

“Should we dive? Try to find something else in the ship.” Offered Zoro.

“You wouldn’t be able to find the surface and probably drown.” Said dismissively Sanji, before stopping and looking back toward Zoro. “Sure, let’s go then.”

“What was that-” Started to growl Zoro.

“Nobody is taking a dive in the waters of the Grand Line.” Interrupted Drake, sighing at their idiocy. “You won’t be able to survive for ten minutes before getting eaten by a Sea King.”

“What should we do now? I could try to get us to the closest island, but our Log Pose is now useless to get there, and we have no idea how to reach a sky island.” Started to fret Nami.

“This guy here might want to help.” Said Luffy, and they all turned to watch a huge ship getting closer to them. “Oii, mister!” Shouted Luffy, waving his arm widely. “Wow, you look like a monkey.” He observed.

“Luffy!” Hissed Ussop and Nami in sync.

“Oh. You really think so? I guess, if you say it, it must be true… Eheh…” Laughed awkwardly the man that kinda looked like a monkey, rubbing the back of his head in an embarrassed gesture.

“Who are you?” Aked Luffy.

“I’m Masira, the Salvage King! I’m the best salvager in the sea! Did you see a galleon fall around here? You didn’t touch it, did you?” He asked, his face suddenly serious.

“No, no, we didn’t touch anything.” Lied quickly Nami, hiding the map being her back. “It almost fell on us. Do you know where a ship like this could come from?”

Masira leaned on the railing of his ship. “There are islands in the sky.” He revealed in a serious voice.

“Yeah, I heard… Is it usual for ships to fall from them? This one looked quite old.”

“Wait, you’re believing me?”

“Uh, sure.” Said Nami. “The weather on the Grand Line is stranger than everything I could dream of, so it isn’t impossible that there could exist clouds strong enough for people to stand on…” She mused. She might not have believed it so easily if Robin had been the only one to talk about it, but Drake had shown them that he knew far more about the Grand Line than the rest of the crew, and now that they had a reason for his knowledge she saw no reason not to trust him. Plus, she had had at least one minute to think about the existence of such islands, more than enough time to get used to the idea.

“Most people around here don’t believe in the existence of the sky islands… If you’re interested, you need to talk to Montblanc Cricket.”

“Could you lead us to him? Our Log Pose is locked pointing up toward the sky, but we have no idea how to get there.”

“Give me a few minutes to salvage this ship, and then I’ll take you to where he lives.” Offered Masira.

“Montblanc…” Repeated Sanji as soon as Masira turned back to his ship. “I feel like I’ve heard this name before.”

“Really?” Asked Robin, interested.

“Now that you say that…” Drake frowned. “I'm pretty sure it was in a book. Montblanc… Something.”

“Montblanc Noland!” Remembered Sanji, hitting his fist against his palm.

“Who was that?” Asked Chopper curiously.

“It’s a tale, in the North Blue.” Started to explain Sanji.

“Wait, North Blue? Aren’t you from the East?” Interrupted Nami.

“I was born in the North Blue.” Explained Sanji. “But I was raised in the East. Anyway, he is the main character of this story, called Liar Noland.” He quickly said, not wanting to let them have the time to ask more questions about his childhood. “It’s a cautionary tale, I guess, for children. Noland was an adventurer, and he always came back from the sea with unbelievable tales of what he had seen. One day, he came back from one of his travels that took months and went to see the king. He told him that he found a city of gold on the island he was on, and wanted the king to send him back with a fleet so he could bring all the gold back. The king agreed, and the fleet went on a hard journey. But when they reached the island, there wasn’t any gold. Everyone thought that Noland had been lying about it, and so the king ordered his execution. But he kept saying that the island had been here, and even before his death he insisted that the island must have sunk, and that’s why all the gold disappeared.”

“That was sad.” Said Chopper with a small frown.

“To keep saying that even when faced with death…” Murmured Usopp, impressed.

“We’re good to go!” Announced Masira as he leaned on the closest railing to the Merry. “It won’t take very long, so just follow us and-” He stopped as the night suddenly fell on them.

They all looked up, expecting to see the clouds leading to the usuals Grand Line storms. However, towering above them, was five figures. They looked like warriors, each holding a spear in their hands. The most striking thing about them however was their size. They looked like they were a few kilometers tall.

Panicked shouts exploded from the Merry and Masira’s ship.

“RUN!” Shouted Luffy, but before they could once again jump down in the ship to start rowing, a shout of “Wait!” coming from Drake stopped them.

“They’re not real!” Exclaimed Drake once he saw he had everyone's attention. “My Haki can’t feel them, and I have a range big enough that I should be able to. Whatever this is, there is no one here.”

“But…” Protested Luffy, his eyes wide as he watched the figures above them. One of them cocked his weapon back, like it was getting ready to strike them, and they all took a step back, even Drake. He was sure that there wasn’t anyone here, but it didn’t make the sight any less intimidating. However, they no longer had the time to run. They watched with bated breath as the spear started to go down toward them when suddenly the figures all vanished.

“What was that.” Said Zoro in a shocked tone.

“So scary.” Cried out Nami and Usopp as they clung to each other. Chopper fell on his back on the ground, one of his hoofs grabbing onto Zoro’s boot for comfort.

“My guess would be some sort of Devil Fruit power dealing in illusions.” Offered Drake. “But it definitely wasn’t real.”

“Whatever. I don’t want to stay here.” Nami turned toward Masira’s ship and put her hand on her hips. “Get us out of her and to this Cricket guy as soon as soon as you can.” She ordered.

~~One Piece~~

“So, where exactly does Cricket live?” Asked Nami.

They had been traveling next to Masira's ship for about a dozen minutes, and they had finally gotten over their shock of the previous events. Enough, at least, to start asking questions to Masira.

“On the west side of Jaya. That’s the only island on this part of the sea, so your Log Pose should have taken you there.” Answered Masira.

“Jaya?” Repeated Drake.

“You’ve heard of it?” Asked Luffy.

“There’s a port town, pretty much lawless, and despite the Marines’ attempt at regaining control, they never managed to do it for long. It's one of the numerous islands that is situated too far from the nearest Marine bases for them to launch any kind of successful assault. Most of the pirates dealing in the black market have some sort of hold there, since it's close enough to multiple routes to make it strategically placed for anyone interested in this half of the Grand Line.”

“So it’s dangerous?” Asked Zoro with a glint in his eyes.

“Not in a way you’d like.” Answered Drake. “They’re more likely to harass Nami and Robin than you with your three swords. I still haven’t seen how much Luffy's bounty increased, but they won’t go after him either. We're not going to see anyone important there, only the unimportant underlings that aren't strong enough to go to the New World.” He warned, to the disappointment of the straw-hatted teen.

Luffy quickly rebounded at the reminder of his bounty. “I hope I got a huuuge increase!”

“Maybe some of us got a Wanted Poster as well.” Said hopefully Sanji.

~~One Piece~~

“We’re getting near Jaya.” Warned them Masira. A few minutes later they started to discern the island, and it wasn’t long before they were able to see a tall structure near the edge.

“Is that a castle?” Asked Sanji.

“Looks like it.” Hummed Robin.

Usopp put a spyglass to his eyes. “There’s something weird with it.” He noted.

“That’s because it’s not a real castle.” Explained Masira.

“What do you mean?” Asked Robin.

“Cricket’s house is at the edge of the island. The house looks like it had been cut in half, it’s why we think that part of the island sunk into the sea. He put a castle cardboard decades ago to fill the hole in the house.”

“And here I thought that for once we would meet someone rich…” Sighed Nami.

“We just left the princess of Alabasta.” Said Zoro dryly.

“That’s not the same! Vivi is a friend, I can’t exactly ask her for money.” Protested Nami.

“Tch. And yet you gave me a debt. Witch.” He muttered, earning a sharp glare from Nami. Sanji was too busy swooning around Robin to notice the interaction.

~~One Piece~~

“I didn’t expect the house to be that small.” Said Chopper, as they went to the other side of the castle cardboard.

“It’s barely big enough for one person.” Added Usopp.

“Really?” Asked Luffy. The house looked fine to him. The bandits that had raised him had a bigger house, but there were always dozens of people in it. And once he was alone, his tree house had felt too big.

“I can’t really say, I spend most of my life on the Baratie.” Answered Sanji. Not quite a lie, but before the Baratie he had spent months in a cell, and before that he lived in a castle. He didn't really know what was the normal size for a house.

“I lived in a castle with Doctorine.” Offered Chopper. “Before that the only house I spent time in was Doctor Hiluluk’s. I was bigger than this, but not by much.”

They all turned to look at Zoro, curious to hear about his life before the Straw Hats since no one knew anything about him, except for his status as a bounty hunter.

“I was in a dojo.” He answered simply.

“Some of you saw Bellemer’s house. It was bigger, but we were three to live in it.” Said Nami.

“I had kind of a big house where I worked before, due to my position.” Said Drake, aware of Masira listening in. He couldn't really start talking about Marineford. “Most houses in the North Blue are mostly small, to keep the heat in. Only the really rich that could afford better heating than a fireplace had a big house.” He added, trying to remember what was considered normal in the North. Minion Island was the clearest memory he had of a place that wasn't a Marine base, and the houses there had been small, with thick stone walls.

“It really seems to have been cut in half.” Said Robin when their gaze turned to her questioningly. “You could probably fit a bedroom upstairs, which left enough space for a small kitchen and a decently sized living room.”

The crew let the diversion go, only Zoro throwing her a sharp glance, not liking her keeping secrets from them. Still, he could understand not wanting to talk about her childhood. The only one who was aware of Kuina and the promise they had made to each other was Luffy, and only because they had spent their first days on the sea alone and his captain had asked him about Wado. Luffy had told him about Shanks in turn, and how much his hat truly meant. Everyone on the crew knew that his hat was precious to him, but only Zoro had gotten the full story behind it.

“Do you know where this Locus guy is?” Asked Luffy, turning to Masira, cutting through the awkwardness that barely had the time to settle.

“Locus?” Repeated Masira.

“Cricket.” Translated Zoro.

“He probably is diving. We think that there is a treasure at the bottom of the sea, and so he dives every day in the hope to find it. It won’t be long before he comes back up to eat.” Explained Masira.

“Eat!” Shouted Luffy, his eyes suddenly wide as he remembered the most important thing. “Sanji, I’m hungry.”

“I told you to wait until lunch.” Answered Sanji, taking a calming huff off his cigarette, resigning himself to the battle of will that was going to take place.

“I’m feeling hungry too, Sanji-kun.” Said Nami. “This day had been too much to handle.” She sighed, her manipulations forgotten for a second as she remembered the sequence of shocking events they just lived through.

“Right away, Nami-san!” Shouted Sanji as he ran back toward the Merry, reluctance entirely forgotten. He quickly came back with a full meal, and they sat on the grass in front of Cricket’s house, most trying to sit as far away from Luffy as possible in a vain hope to protect themselves from his attacks. Only Zoro and Robin didn’t, confident in their ability to fend him off. Drake sat beside Zoro, knowing that the swordsman would protect his food as well since he wouldn’t be able to know whether Luffy was aiming for his or Drake’s.

“Take this as the continuation of our interrupted Observation Haki training.” He said with a relaxed smile when they started to complain. “You all need to learn to fend off attacks that come too quickly for your eyes to see.”

Usopp and Nami grumbled about it being unfair, Robin observing the scene with a serene look, a few extra hands ready to protect her plate.

“Or you just need to be fast enough to react.” Taunted Zoro as he slapped Luffy’s hand away.

“You’re not even using haki, you’re using Zoro.” Complained Nami to Drake.

“That’s part of being a strategist, you need to know which battle to fight.”

“Tch. Protect your own food.” Said Zoro as he scooted back a little. One of Luffy’s hands immediately went for Drake’s plate, and he caught it in his own. They could all see his hand take a black color, as he had removed his gloves to eat.

“Don’t try me, or I’ll keep both of your hands here and you won’t be able to eat.” He threatened Luffy, releasing his trapped arm with a pointed look.

Luffy’s look of horror made the crew laugh, and he religiously kept his hands off Drake’s plate for the rest of the meal. The rest were still fair play though.

Chapter Text

“What are you brat doing here !” They looked up, surprised by the unexpected angry shout, from where they were relaxing. Luffy was laying on his back on the grass, happily sated for a time, like after every meal since Sanji had joined the crew. The others were sitting, Zoro’s back against the house as he napped. Masira was involved in a conversation with Usopp about salvaging, Nami having lost interest quickly once she learned what kind of treasures he usually found. Chopper, Drake, and Robin were listening in for lack of better things to do, Sanji going between the two women to make sure that they were comfortable and had everything they wanted.

“Cricket !” Recognized Masira as he jumped to his feet.

“Are you here to rob me ? I’m not letting any of you- Masira ? Ah, are they friends of yours ?” The old man asked, suddenly calming down.

“I met them on the sea.” Explained Masira. “They were interested in going to a sky island, I told them you knew how to go there.”

“A sky island ? You believe they exist ?” He asked the group.

“We know they do.” Answered simply Luffy.

“Hmph. How would you brats know ? You’re just as foolish as the idiots in Mock Town that ‘know’ that it doesn’t.” He scoffed derisively.

Luffy frowned at that. “Don’t you believe in their existence, old man ?”

“Oh, I believe they exist alright. Most would, and do, call me a fool for believing. But I don’t know whether they exist or not.” He explained. “I don’t know anyone who had claimed to go there and be even the slightest bit credible. How could you brats-.” He stopped abruptly in his rant, a weird expression on his face as one of his hands went to clutch at his chest. “Urgh-” He grunted as he staggered, tried to take a step back to regain his equilibrium, but lost his balance and fell forward.

“Cricket !” “Old man !”

“Aaaah ! What happened ?” Shouted a panicked Chopper as he ran toward Cricket. He grabbed his medical instruments from his backpack and went to check the man's heart and lungs. “That isn’t good.” He frowned slightly.

“What is it, Doctor-san ?” Asked Robin as she crouched next to him.

“We should get him on a proper bed first. I recognize this, it’s decompression sickness.” He explained as Masira went to take Cricket’s unconscious body and carried it toward the house.

“Decompression sickness ?” She repeated curiously.

“It’s caused by his diving.” Explained Chopper. “I didn’t see him carry any kind of equipment when he went out of the water. If he goes too far deep without the proper equipment, like a diving suit, the pressure in his body will change. It usually isn’t a problem because deep-sea divers are careful about how quickly they go under and how quickly they go back to the surface. But given his age, if he goes back up too quickly, and had been doing so for years, he had been slowly destroying his lungs and raising his blood pressure !”

“Diving is that dangerous ?” Asked Masira.

“Hmm hmm.” Chopper nodded vigorously. “The human body isn’t made to withstand the pressure of the sea. Young divers won’t notice the strains, but it definitely exists. How long has he been diving ?”

“For at least as long as I have known him, and he started a few years before that, so around ten years I’d say.”

“He needs to stop then. He won’t be able to keep it for long before his heart and lungs stop functioning.” Informed him Chopper seriously.

~~One Piece~~

It only took a few minutes for Cricket to regain consciousness and for Chopper to explain how bad for his health diving had been. Cricket, however, protested a lot against Chopper’s advice that he immediately stop his activity.

“Why are you so insistent about this ?” Asked Nami after a few minutes of listing to them arguing. “Masira mentioned something about a treasure, but is it really worth dying for ?”

“Why I believe that there is a treasure, it’s not exactly what I am looking for under the sea.” Started to explain Cricket. “Some of you may have recognized my last name-”

“So you are related to Montblanc Noland ?” Interrupted Sanji.

“Yes. He is one of my ancestors. I believe that he really had found a city of gold, but that it had sunk into the sea while he was traveling. Nobody is taking my family seriously because of his reputation, so when I reached this island, I decided that I had to find proof of the city's existence.”

“Well, I hope you succeed.” Said Luffy sincerely.

“Luffy-” Started to protest Chopper. Cricket couldn’t keep diving as he was, and he didn’t want Luffy to encourage him to continue.

“It’s his dream.” Explained Luffy before Chopper could continue, and Chopper fell silent. Everyone in this crew understood how important dreams were. Chopper as well was risking his own life by traveling with a pirate crew for the sake of his dream, when he could have kept being a doctor on Drum.

“Masira mentioned that you knew how to go on a sky island ?” Asked Nami after a few seconds of silence. If the man had been diving for 10 years without finding anything, she probably wouldn’t get her hand on any gold in the few days they would stay here, so she refocused on the second most important matter.

“I have Noland’s logbook. He wrote something in it concerning the sky islands.” Explained Cricket as he went to get the book and gave it to Nami.

“Year of the sea 1120, June 21st.” Started to read Nami. “Clear weather, I set sail from the lively city of Villa. Following the direction from the Log Pose, we went Northeast-East, straight out of the dock. In the afternoon, I met a merchant ship and bought a unique object. It’s a small snowboard-like object called “Waver”. It is a strange boat that will move even when there is no wind, there seems to be a secret method needed to use it, as I could not control it well. Now it has become a popular toy among the crew. The waver’s source of energy seems to only exist on sky island, it is said that there are a lot of special items found in the sky. Speaking of sky island, a fellow adventurer once showed me a living sky fish, I was surprised to see such a strange creature. With our ship it is impossible to get there, but being a sailor, I really wish I could go to the sea of the sky someday.”

“Whoah, I want to go to sky island !” Shouted Luffy.

“Those wavers seem interesting.” Said Nami.

"A sky fish…" Mused Sanji, wondering how it would taste.

"BOSS !" The loud shout startled them all, though only Ussop, Nami and Chopper physically reacted when a man barged into the house, throwing the door open. "Oh, Boss, you're fine. Hi Masira." Said the newcomer, suddenly calm.

"Shoujou, those are the… ?" Started to introduce Cricket.

"Straw Hats pirates." Completed Luffy.

"They're interested in going to a sky island." He explained.

"Oh ? That's cool.”

"We're going to give them a hand." Decided Cricket.

“We are ?”

"Really ? Wow, you're really nice, old man." Said Luffy.

"How are we supposed to get up there though ?" Asked Nami.

“There’s a phenomenon around this island that happens every few months.” Explained Cricket. “It’s called the knock-up stream. It’s a giant ascending stream that comes out of the sea and disappears so high into the sky that the top isn’t visible. With the proper preparation, a ship might be able to use this stream to propel themselves high into the sky, and see if there is a sky island up there.”

“How do we make sure to reach a sky island ? I mean, they can’t be everywhere, right ? What if the sky is clear ?”

“There are a few knock-up streams around here. Most are really short, and only reach a height of a few hundred meters and only stay up for a minute. But at the same time that the bigger stream happens, the one that you will need to use to get into the sky, another weather strange phenomenon happens. There is this cloud unlike any other cloud I’ve seen. It is called the Millennium Cumulonimbus.”

“A cumulonimbus ?” Repeated Nami.

“What’s that ?” Asked Luffy.

“Uh… There are different types of clouds, that all exist at different eigh. For example, the small, white clouds that you can see when the sky is clear, that are very low in the sky and aren’t tall. The clouds responsible for the storms float higher, and are thicker. The cumulonimbus are very rare and strange clouds. They are tall, very tall, their lowest point being at the same height that the common white clouds, but their tallest point can be a few kilometers above sea level. They are also unusually large, and strong winds and even storms can occur in their midst.”

At Luffy's blank look, she re-explained with a sigh. “They are very big and rare clouds.”

“Aaaah. Ok.” Said Luffy, a light of understanding flashing through his eyes. Mystery clouds he could understand.

“The Millennium Cumulonimbus is even rarer. It is said that it reaches 10 000 meters above sea level.” Said Cricket. “If there is a cloud on which a sky island might exist, it’s this one. And the knock-up stream passes right through it.”

“You talked about proper preparation… How do we make sure that the Merry will survive a stream that is strong enough to reach the sky ?” Asked Ussop worriedly.

“Don’t worry about that !” Shouted Masira. “We’re not only the best salvagers around, but we also know how to fix ships. We’ll modify yours so it can withstand the strength of the knock-up stream.”

“You mentioned that it only happens every few months. Is there one soon ? We can’t afford to stay here for long and risk the Log Pose resetting.” Asked Drake.

“Aaah ! We need to leave this island right now !”

“Oh no, how sad, I’m sure it won’t happen for a long time, sorry Luffy we won’t be able to go on a monstrous stream that will propel us thousands of meters into the sky with no way of knowing if we’ll survive…” Said Ussop, patting Luffy’s shoulder as if to comfort him.

“Actually, there’s one tomorrow at noon.” Cut him off Cricket.

“Ugh.” Ussop clutched at his heart. “I think I just caught the I-can't-leave-this-island-for-at-least-two-days disease.”

“No ! Ussop !” Shouted panickedly Chopper.

Robin chuckled, and a fond but exasperated smile appeared on Drake, Zoro, and Sanji’s faces at their antics.

“This knock-up stream, it happens next to the island then ? Isn’t it dangerous for the inhabitants ?” Wondered Drake.

“Oh, no, it’s visible from the island but it happens further into the sea. Most of the people sailing around here are aware of the risk and know to look out for them.”

“How do we know where it will happen then ?” Asked Nami.

“Oh, I didn’t even think about it, since most people try to avoid them, not run into them. Let me show you…” He went to the first floor of his house and came back with a bag. “This is a South Bird.” He said, getting a statue out of the bag.

The crew awed, eyes wide as they saw it. The statue was made of pure gold and was as long as Cricket’s forearm. It depicted some sort of bird, its beak almost as big as the rest of his body.

“Is that… Is that gold ?” Stuttered Nami.

“Yes. And it’s not empty.” Answered Cricket, putting the statue in Nami’s arms, ignoring her disturbing beri-eyes. “It’s what gives me hope that the city of gold really is at the bottom of the sea. The bird here is a particular bird that only exists on Jaya. Its head is always pointing toward the south. If you go from the eastern edge of the island and go straight to the south for half an hour, you will find yourself right in the middle of the knock-up stream.”

“Where can we find this bird ?” Asked Ussop, resigned to the fact that they would go to a sky island no matter his protests.

“I wonder what’s the best way to cook it.”

“It’s meat, you can’t go wrong with meat.”

“They live in the forest on this island.” Answered Cricket, ignoring Sanji and Luffy. “You should go get one as soon as you can, they can be quite hard to catch.”

~~One Piece~~

“I hate you !” Shouted Nami, her fist smashing at the top of Drake’s head.

“Ow.” Muttered the zoan, a hand coming to rest on the bump that was already starting to develop. He couldn’t understand how she could hit that hard when she didn’t know armament. “So, you did catch the south bird.” He said, noticing the bird struggling in Robin’s arm, Chopper attempting to pacify him.

“And you could have helped !” Nami’s fist rose once again, and Drake debated for a second whether it was better to avoid it and the hurt that was sure to come with it, or to take it in the hope that it would calm Nami down.

“You needed the training.” He justified, and knew he deserved the hit for this comment.

“The whole forest was working against us ! You lived for a year in a jungle and have observation haki, we wouldn’t have to spend the whole afternoon on this if you had come to help us, you asshole !”

Drake leaned back to avoid Sanji’s feet that had aimed for him at the end of his tirade. “What, I thought you wanted to train ?” He asked the cook.

Sanji glared at him, and Drake focused his haki on him. The glare had been too serious to be just annoyance, and he couldn’t see what would have bothered him that much, until he sensed one particular emotion coming from him. “Don’t tell me you were…” He leaned forward, and continued just low enough for Zoro not to hear. “... Scared ?”

“You-” Sanji forcefully calmed himself when his shout attracted Zoro’s attention. He couldn’t risk the swordsman knowing his fear of oversized insects. His glare however promised retribution should Drake tease him more.

“Is that Merry ?”

They all turned at Ussop’s question to look toward the Merry. The ship now sported two wings, each at least twice as large as the ship. Its head had also been changed to look like a rooster.

“It’s a rooster !” Shouted Chopper. “You did this in only a few hours ?” He asked in awe, turning to Masira and Shoujou that were sitting on the grass next to Cricket’s house.

Ussop jumped on Merry’s deck to look at the changes.

“Why a rooster ?” Muttered Sanji.

“Do roosters even fly ?” Asked Zoro.

Robin chuckled behind them.

“Well, even if they don’t really fly, they’re birds. And they are able to float at least.” Noted Drake. “Unlike lambs.”

“Uh.” Yeah, Merry wasn’t the most logical of boats. Then again, a fish figurehead would remind him too much of the Baratie, and Zoro saw Sanji too often already. So a lamb was fine. He liked Merry anyway, she was as much a Nakama as all of them.

“Well, if it helps us survive this, I won't complain.” Said Sanji. “Anyway, it’s already nightfall, I’ll go start dinner.” At that, he and Nami stared threateningly at the south bird, who let out a sound of distress.

~~One Piece~~

“Are we really doing that ?” Asked fearfully Usopp as he stared at the back of Masira's ship. He and Shoujou only had accompanied them half of the way to the area where the knock-up stream was supposed to appear before they left them to their fate.

“It’s too late to back out.” Answered Nami. “The knock-up stream will happen any minute now, we can’t risk trying to flee from it and getting thrown by the waves that will undoubtedly appear. Whatever phenomenon is responsible underwater for it, it must be strong, and we will have to go with the flow to survive this.”

“Something’s happening !” Shouted Zoro. They were all watching from different parts of the deck, none of them wanting to go on the crow’s nest when they’re supposed to get hit by a stream strong enough to propel their ship thousands of meters into the sky.

Nami ran to his side. “Is that - turn the sails, a giant whirlpool is about to appear !” She shouted. The crew reacted quickly to her orders, but the whirlpool was just as quick to grow, the Merry unable to escape from its force.

“Are we going to sink before reaching sky island ?” Shouted Sanji, his arms straining to keep the sail turned toward the outside of the whirlpool. Chopper was doing the same on the deck with the helm.

“There wasn’t anything to indicate a whirlpool would happen.” Shouted Nami, desperate as she saw Merry getting closer and closer to the eye of the whirlpool despite their best efforts.

As if to answer him, the sea suddenly calmed. “What-” She choked out.

“That’s weirder than usual for the Grand Line.” Said Robin.

“No, no, wait it must be…” Muttered Nami.

“What is it ?” Asked Luffy.

“The knock-up stream ! The water to create it has to come from somewhere…”

“Then it means-” Started to say Drake.

“Yes, the knock-up stream will explode just where the eye of the whirlpool was, we have seconds at best ! Furl the sails, we need to stay where we are, Merry will explode if we get in the middle of it ! We need to ride on the ascending waters at the border, they will be slow enough for us to maneuver in.” She ordered, finding her footing once again.

The minute during which they waited for the explosion to happen was tense, for all of them. Sanji and Zoro, the two strongest of the crew that hadn’t eaten a Devil Fruit, were waiting on top of the sail, ready to release it as soon as Nami gave the order. Luffy, Robin, and Drake were clenching the railing tightly, Drake in the middle of them so he could grab them in case they needed to use their hands to use their powers and help Sanji and Zoro. His devil fruit was the most useless one in this situation. Chopper was at the helm, Ussop next to him to grab him if he fell, Chopper ready to transform from his Heavy Point to his Brain Point, the smallest one, at the first sign of danger.

Nami was also clenching the railing but on the upper deck to see as much of the sea as she could. She needed to be there to be effectively direct her crew.

They didn’t have any warning when the sea under them exploded. Zoro barely managed to hang on the mast, Sanji not falling only thanks to the rope he had entangled around his arm. He gritted his teeth as his shoulder exploded in pain for a second, before he managed to grab the rope and pull himself back toward the mast through the force of his arms.

“We’re doing it, we’re doing it !” Shouted hysterically Nami, her eyes open wide in fear and excitement.

The Merry was vertical, and Drake turned his head to see the ocean behind them get further and further away. They were high enough to see the entirety of Jaya now.

Ussop grunted from his position against the wall. Chopper was clutching his shirt and he had one arm wrapped against the small doctor, the other grabbing at the doorway. His position didn’t prevent him from sliding up thought, and his head hit the ceiling as Merry titled back.

“Merry is getting too inclined !” He shouted.

“We’re losing our grip against the stream.” Warned Robin, her eyes closed to look at the multitude of eyes she had created along the hull. It took efforts to maintain them despite being hit by seawater. “We’re going to fall to death if this continues.”

“Sanji, Zoro, open the sail !” Shouted Nami. “We can do this, but we need to-”

The ship separated itself entirely from the knock-up stream at the same time as Sanji and Zoro managed to release the sail from its position against the mast.

Instead of falling, Merry started flying.

“We’re…” Muttered Drake, his eyes wide open in shock. His grip on the railing had gotten so tight when he thought that they would fall that he had definitely damaged it, the wood crunched under his grip.

“We’re flying !!” Shouted Luffy excitedly. He let out a shout of excitement as the Merry continued to fly, getting them closer and closer to the clouds.

Ussop laughed from his position inside the control room, his and Chopper’s head looking out through the open door.

Drake could feel a smile tug at his lips, and he knew that his look of wonder was shared by everyone on the ship.

Chapter Text

It didn’t matter that Drake knew of the existence of the sky islands. There was a difference between knowing they existed, and actively going looking for one by riding a knock up stream - one of the ocean’s phenomena that everyone knew to avoid, no matter how strong their crew or their ship were.

In the end, he was part of the Straw Hats, and he would follow his captain everywhere he wanted to go. He hadn’t even tried to dissuade him from doing this, not that he thought he would have succeeded anyway. This was exciting. When he had joined, it was with an end goal in sight, saving Vivi’s country and defeating Crocodile. It had looked enough like some of his mission with the Marine that he didn’t have any problem adapting to his new crew. But right now, they were only sailing for the sake of living a new adventure, and he liked it.

The whole crew had thrown itself into making sure they would reach Skypiea, even Usopp no matter how much he complained, just for the fun of exploring a new and unknown island.

He didn’t regret following them here, but as the Going Merry burst through the clouds and he closed his eyes under the sudden glare of the unobscured sun, he couldn’t help but have that one second of doubt, that feeling that after reaching the top of the knock-up stream, they would just fall down back to the sea.

Merry’s landing was more surprising than he liked to admit. Part of it was that they didn’t fall to their death, of course, but another part was that Merry somehow managed to right herself and didn’t crash into whatever had stopped them.

The impact was still jarring, and they all fell on the floor with grunts of pain, Zoro and Sanji luckily managing to stay on the mast.

“Damn.” Muttered Sanji as he rolled his shoulder. He had almost fallen off the ship earlier, hadn’t only because he had wrapped his arm with a piece of rope. The slight twinge of pain informed him that it wasn’t dislocated, only bruised. As long as he could move his arm enough to cook and to do a handstand, it didn’t matter if it hurt.

“Wow.” Luffy’s whispered awe was enough to grab everyone’s attention. He had been the first one to get to his feet, and while the others were taking stock of their injuries - crashing hard against the deck wasn’t easy on non-rubber people - he had looked at the scenery around them. “It’s- it’s so white.”

The sky above them was clear, devoid of a single cloud. This in itself wasn’t too much of a surprise, since the Grand Line’s unpredictable weather meant that they had bouts of good weather often, even if they didn’t last for long. What was really shocking was the sea around them. If it could be called a sea. Instead of clear water, it was a milky white, and the small ripples spreading through its surface showed that it wasn’t strictly liquid, a small layer of mist appearing and disappearing randomly above the waves.

“We’re really above the clouds.” Said Zoro as he landed on the deck.

“I’ve never seen anything like that.” Said Drake, looking around him in how as he held out a hand to help Usopp get to his feet. The sniper and Chopper were still clinging to each other, but Chopper didn’t waste time jumping of his torso to get to the railing and observe the sea from closer.

Usopp dragged one of his goggles to his eyes, partly to shield him against the harsh glow of the sea and the sun, but also to help him see further.

“Do you see anything ?” Asked Drake. They seemed to have landed in the middle of nowhere, and he could only see sky and clouds. “Some sort of island ?”

“Hmm, there’s nothing on this side…” Answered Usopp distractedly as he lent a field-glass to Chopper, who was insisting that he wanted to look too.

“The log pose is still pointing up.” Informed them Nami. “There must be another level of clouds somewhere.”

“Then let's go !” Ordered Luffy.

“We don’t know if there is a path that will allow us to navigate to another cloud.” Mused Robin.

Before anyone could answer to that, Chopper cried out in shock.

“What is it ?” Asked Luffy, seeing that the small doctor was still looking through his field-glass.

“There’s someone there.” He answered. They all turned to look in the direction he was pointing, but only Usopp had any chance of seeing anything through his goggle.

“People ?” Asked Luffy excitedly.

“Uhuh. There’s a ship, and there’s someone next to it. I don’t know what they are do- ah !”

Usopp and Chopper shouted in fright at the same time.

“They just blew up the ship.” Explained faintly Usopp.

“They’re coming here !” Shouted Chopper, throwing his field-glass on the floor to jump and grab onto Zoro’s head.

“Oi.” Grumbled the swordsman.

“I won’t let anyone explode Merry !” Exclaimed Luffy, his body going into a fighting chance as they saw a dot appear on the horizon, quickly getting bigger and revealing a man approaching them on top of some sort of private vessel. Sanji, Drake, and Zoro, who had managed to get Chopper to release him, got in position behind their Captain, ready to fight if needed.

The stranger aimed a bazooka at their ship and fired, the projectile effortlessly deflected by Luffy and falling harmlessly into the cloudy sea under them. It didn’t seem to deter him, as he didn’t do much more than blink in slight surprise before he jumped high above them, one leg coming down to kick Luffy.

The teen cocked his fist back and sent it toward their attacker, twisting at the same time to the side to avoid getting it.

However, instead of punching the man and evading the kick, his fist flew wide and the kick connected before he could avoid it. The strength behind it was enough to send him flying, and he crashed into the wall of their cabins.

Nami gasped in surprise as she saw her captain get so easily thrown off, her hand falling to the Clima Tact strapped to her leg. Sanji and Zoro reacted almost instantly, Sanji sending a powerful kick toward the enemy while Zoro cut him down.

Or at least, that was the plan.

As soon as Sanji shifted his weight to one leg to prepare his kick, he lost his footing, suddenly feeling light-headed. The kick still connected, but with no strength behind it it was easily blocked by the unknown man, who pushed him back and threw him on the floor.

Zoro didn’t fare any better, his sword hitting the bazooka as he hadn’t been fast enough to attack before the man could protect himself. He got kicked back as well, his hand struggling to catch the railing and prevent his fall overboard without dropping his sword.

What - not haki, I would have seen- Drake thought as he took in the fact that the three strongest fighters beside him had lost in seconds to the same enemy. Devil Fruit ? he wondered, deciding to shift into his full allosaurus form. He needed to protect the rest of the crew while the others were down, and the shocking factor of his transformation would allow him to stall for a few seconds at least.

The transformation was seamless, the Merry just large enough for him to shift without destroying anything, and he took a deep breath to let out a roar, hoping to scare or at least unsettle the attacker long enough for the others to get back up-

He couldn't.

It seemed like no air had entered his lungs and he faltered, took a step back as the sensation of choking registered in his mind. But he wasn't drowning, he knew how drowning felt, it had happened often enough to him as a kid once he had eaten his devil fruit, and this wasn't it, there just was something strange with the air.

He shifted back to human almost as quickly as he had transformed into his zoan form and the sensation lessened. He grabbed both his axe and sword, ready to fight no matter what was wrong with the air here, but someone else beat him to it.

The attacker barely managed to avoid getting impaled, shifting at the last moment for a spear to clash against his foot instead.

“I’m not letting you attack innocent, Shandarian.” Said the owner of the spear, an old man that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“I have better things to do than to fight you.” Glared the other. “But rest assured that I'm not forgetting about you.”

At those words, he made a backflip to rejoin the sea, and disappeared quickly.

“Who are you, old man ?” Asked Luffy, still painting slightly.

“I’m the knight of the sky. You may call me Gan Fall.”

“I don’t care who he is ! What the fuck was that !” Shouted Nami, her fist connecting with the back of Luffy's head.

“I don't know ! Everything was just weird !” Complained Luffy.

“There's something wrong here. I started to choke as soon as I transformed.” Added Drake.

“It probably comes from the lack of oxygen.” Explained Robin. “This high up, oxygen is rarer and the air is thinner. Our bodies aren’t yet used to it, so every time you tried to exert yourself, your body protested. Your allosaurus form must need more oxygen than your human one, Dinosaur-san.”

Drake wrinkled his nose at the name. Robin never used their given name, only called them by those strange nicknames she had created, but the others had their position in it. Captain-san, doctor-san… At least his was better than Usopp’s long-nose-kun.

“You come from the Blue Sea then ?” Asked Gan Fall.

“Yes.” Answered Robin. It wasn’t hard to guess what the blue sea was, given how white everything was here.

“Then you should try to avoid moving too much. It will take you weeks before you can move freely in this new environment.” Gan Fall advised them.

“Uh. I feel fine.” Said plainly Zoro.

“Yep. Already used to it.” Added Sanji.

“Ah- it’s impossible, really, nobody can adapt that fast.” Protested the knight.

“No, really. I’m all ready to fight now.” Said Luffy.

“Don’t question it.” Said Nami. “So. Gan Fall, right ? Can you explain to us where we are ? We followed our log pose to get up there, but it’s still pointing up. Is there something like the knock-up stream here, that would guide us toward higher clouds ?”

“The kno- don’t tell me you took a knock-up stream to come here !” Said Gan Fall, shocked.

Nali blinked in surprise a few times, before a hard look came onto her face.

“Was there another way ?” She asked, almost sweetly.

“There are other islands in the sky below us, and paths to connect them. But you would have lost quite a few people in trying to use this way. The knock-up stream is all or nothing.”

“Well. We all survived.” She sighed. She wondered how those other islands could be reached. The sky islands wouldn’t have been a myth if the path was easy to take.

“Where exactly are we now ? The log pose is still pointing upward.” Asked Robin before Nami could ask her own question.

“You’re in the white sea, around 7 000 meters above the blue sea. Above us is the whitewhite sea, 10 000 meters above the blue sea. That’s why your log pose is pointing upward, there are still lands up there. But, well, you’ve impressed me by reaching here with the knock-up steam, and you remind me of another crew… Let me give you something.”

“Give ?” Asked Nami, ever interested.

“The fighters here are fierce, and you’re not used to our way of living. If you ever need help, you can call me using this.” He dangled in front of them a small golden whistle. “If you use it, it will call me. I’ll hear the sound wherever you are on the island, and I’ll come to your help. Normally it would cost 50 million extol per use, but I’ll give you the first one for free.”

“To call for help…?” Murmured Nami, before running forward and snatching the whistle out of his hand. “It’s mine !” She declared.

“What ?” “No !” Protested Usopp and Chopper. “The weakest of the crew should have it !” Said Chopper.

“Well, I’m the weakest.”

“No you’re not. You took down Miss Doublefinger all by yourself, and she was part of the second-highest duo of Baroque’s Works.” Countered Ussop.

“Yeah ! I’m weaker than you !” Shouted Chopper.

Drake sighed when they started to fistfight over who was the weakest.

“They’re ridiculous.” Muttered Zoro.

“They’ll decide this together. I, for one, am more interested in going to this whitewhite sea.”

“Uh, knight-san left.” Noticed Robin. “I wanted to ask him more questions.”

“He’s fast, I didn’t notice him leaving.” With a glance toward the fighting trio, Drake couldn’t help but understand why the man had run away quickly. People fighting to determine who was the weakest wasn’t exactly normal. And how would they determine who was supposed to have the whistle ? Was the weakest person the one who won or the one who lost the fight ?

~~One Piece~~

Nami, Ussop and Chopper had finally decided that the whistle should be pinned to the main mast. While it was only a temporary solution since they would soon leave the Merry to go explore, at least Nami was no longer too distracted to help them navigate on the weird sea.

With their navigator back, it didn’t take them long to reach a door hidden under a cascade. It looked like a weirdly drawn star had been stuck onto the sea. Heaven’s Gate was written on it.

“Heaven’s Gate…” Said Chopper. “Do you think we’re in heaven ?” He asked, turning to look at Ussop.

“Uh…” Hesitated Ussop. “No ?”

“We’re not in heaven.” Sighed Nami. “The sign doesn’t mean anything.”

“Heaven doesn’t exist anyway.” Said Zoro.

“Eh, you can’t be sure that-” Started to say Ussop.

“Please don’t ask questions like that.” Sighed Drake, cutting him off. “You’ll only create discord.”

Chopper blinked at him with large eyes, before he nodded. “Uh, okay.” He agreed.

“It’s something about humans, we like to debate about subjects like that. If you go to a normal town and ask them what they think of the Marines, you’ll have the same sort of reaction. Some like them, some don’t, and most people think that the one in the right is the one who shouts the loudest.” He explained.

“But we hate the Marines, right ?” Asked Chopper, before throwing a worried glance at Drake.

“We’re pirates.” Said Zoro. “We tend to dislike them.”

“You don’t have to hate anyone just because they’re Marines, but most of them will try to arrest us or kill us.” Shrugged Drake. “Some because it’s their job, others because they truly believe we’re bad people and they’re protecting innocent by stopping us, and others again because they hate anything pirate.”

After that, Chopper refrained from asking more questions, and they quickly reached the gate and found an old lady there.

“Hey, grandma !” Shouted Luffy. “Is that the way to go higher ?” He asked.

“You're new ? Here for sightseeing ?” Asked the old lady. “Then you must pay one billion extol per person to cross the gate.”

“What ?” Shouted, outraged Nami. “That’s way too much !”

“How much is that in beris ?” Asked Robin.

“It doesn’t matter how much, I don’t want to pay anything.” Hissed Nami.

“You’re from the Blue Sea then.” Said the old woman. “That’s 100 beri per person. But you don’t have to pay.”

“What the- why are you asking us to pay if we don’t have to ?” Asked Zoro.

“It’s not like she would be able to stop us.” Said Drake. “There’s eight of us, and we’re obviously armed. She might call law enforcement on us if we don’t pay though.”

“Well, just like Zoro said, we’re pirates. We’re not afraid of breaking the law.” Decided Nami. Luffy laughed at that, and turned toward the guardian of the gate.

“We’re not paying.” He told her.

“Just wait a minute here for the shrimp to arrive.” She said, getting a Kameko Den Den Mushi out and starting to take their picture.

“Shrimp ?” Repeated Ussop.

As if to answer him, Merry suddenly rocked. They all leaned over the railing to see huge claws grabbing onto the ship’s hull, before the beast, which was probably a shrimp, started to move in the water and up a strange road made of clouds. The path wasn’t very deep, enough for their ship to sail through, but they could see that it was made of clouds and seemingly floating in the air.

“That’s certainly an efficient way to travel.” Noted Nami.

It took them a few minutes to reach the end of the road, and the shrimp released Merry once they reached another cloudy sea.

“There seems to be a beach there.” Said Ussop, pointing in the direction he was looking, his goggles on his eyes.

Despite the general lack of wind, they managed to reach the beach, Luffy and Ussop jumping on it as soon as Merry got close enough, quickly followed by Chopper.

“They’re so impatient.” Sighed Drake. Robin huffed out a laugh at his side, watching as Sanji and Nami followed them with barely concealed excitement, Zoro following at a more sedate pace.

“If they have enough energy to run around, they have enough for haki training.” He added.

“You should let them enjoy the novelty a little more.” Protested Robin half-heartedly.

“Eh, we’re probably going to run into whatever passes for law enforcement here. I’m not too worried about it, but giving what an utter failure our first attempt to fight was, I’ll feel better if everyone on the crew got used to moving and fighting despite the different conditions.”

“Well, far from me to prevent you from doing this.”

“Do you want to join us ? We should use the open space, but I don’t want to leave Merry alone while we’re distracted.”

“Hmm, the bazooka-man could come back and blow Merry up, forcing up to spend the rest of our lives trapped on a cloud.” Agreed Robin. “You’ll make them train armament today, right ? I’ll stay here then.”

“Okay, thanks.” Said Drake. “Oi !!” He shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice carry more, and attracting the attention of everyone on the beach. Ussop was showing Chopper how to build a sandcastle, Luffy was doing who-knows-what on a tree, Sanji and Zoro were fighting each other and rolling in the waves, and Nami was sitting on a rock, her feet in the water. At his shout, they all stopped what they were doing to turn and look at him, Sanji trapping Zoro underwater for a second before he managed to free himself with a glare.

Drake jumped into the sand, and walked in the middle of them. “Haki training.” He explained simply.

Chapter Text

Drake jumped into the sand, and walked in the middle of them. “Haki training.” He explained simply.

Nami groaned in despair, and sneaked a glance toward the Merry. She scowled when she saw that Robin was already on it and that she wouldn’t have a reason to skip today’s training.

She knew why Drake was doing this, and she liked that he wanted them to be strong enough to protect themselves. Usopp’s clima-tact had done a lot to heighten her chance of coming on top in a fight, but while she had won against Miss Doublefinger, she knew that it wouldn’t always be enough. Zoro had struggled against Mr. 1, and had the fight gone differently, she might have had to fight Mr. 1 as well, and she knew how it would have ended.

Of course, no matter how strong she grew, there would always be someone stronger. Given Luffy’s tendency to find trouble everywhere he went, and his goal to become Pirate King, there would, at one point far, far away in the future if she had anything to say about it, have to cross path with the monsters out there - Yonko, Marines, Shichibukai. But knowing that Armament would be enough to protect her from a sword strike, even if she found herself without her clima-tact, was a good enough incentive to invest herself in the training most of the time. Luffy, and Zoro, Drake, even Sanji, might be good enough fighters that normal people weren’t a threat to them, but she knew that she didn’t have that advantage.

She knew all about taking out people stronger than her, and she wasn’t bullet or sword proof. Taking down one of Baroque Works’ strongest fighters didn’t mean that a low-level Marine wouldn’t defeat her with a lucky hit.

Still, there was some part of her that shied away from training. She acted like it was vanity, and it partly was. Her looks were part of her arsenal, people underestimated her because her muscles weren’t showing, and most people found her attractive. She would never be strong enough to win a brute-power contest against most people, no matter how hard she trained, and so she didn’t want to put in the effort.

Mostly, and she would never admit it out loud, even if she admitted it in the privacy of her mind, as she generally tried not to lie to herself, it was a mark left by the eight years she had spent working under Arlong.

The fishmen had such overwhelming strength, that no matter how hard she tried, she would never be able to win against them alone. No matter how smart she was, no matter the tricks she used, they would easily defeat her through sheer strength alone. Arlong hadn’t cared if she trained, confident in his own superiority over her and the rest of the human race, but it had gained her suspicious look from the rest of his crew. They had never trusted her, no one had except maybe Hatchan, and every move she made that might look like an attempt to rebel against them was met with extreme prejudice.

She had learned to stay weak.

Part of it was also that she had been valuable enough that Arlong didn’t want her to get too injured to work. He didn’t care when he, or his crew, were the one to hurt her, but he tended to take offense if some lowlyhuman dared touch a member of his crew, including her. When she got forced into a fight, she only needed to show Arlong’s mark and people decided to forgo fighting her, too afraid of the fishman to risk it. Even if she had hated showing the world the tattoo that was no better than a slave brand, she always had that security net to fall back to.

And then Luffy had come, with Zoro and later Sanji at his side, and they were so much stronger than everyone she knew that she hadn’t felt the need to train. She, and Usopp, were weaker than them, but it was alright because they weren’t needed for their physical strength but because they were smart and had other skills to bring to the crew.

Drake offering them all the opportunity to grow as a fighter, coupled with her fight against Miss Doublefinger had shown that she couldn’t rely on the other to take care of every enemies, not like she had done at Arlong Park or on Syrup Village. She had lucked out and hadn’t been hurt by the fight, but the Baroque Works’ agent would have needed only one hit to kill her, and she couldn’t be sure that no one in the future would get that lucky hit.

So she swallowed her protest, half-hearted as they were, and went with Usopp and Chopper to do the weak version of armament training, the one that didn’t involve getting her ass kicked repeatedly by Drake using armament until she somehow unlocked her own. It involved punching trees repeatedly, and even if she didn't see any progress other than the number of splinters she got on her hands, Drake had at least taken the time to teach them how to throw a real punch after the first time she almost broke her thumb. He liked to tell them that no matter how long it would take them to unlock haki -and it would take them long, of that she had no doubt, months and maybe even years- the training wouldn’t be a waste of time.

Drake generally left them to their training, since this method of learning wasn’t exactly hands-on. He generally checked on them after each session, but unless they started to grow stronger, at which point they would turn to punching rocks, which she wasn’t looking forward to, he couldn’t really do anything to help them learn quicker.

Luffy, Zoro and Sanji, on the other hand, were already able to punch through rocks, no haki needed, and needed a different method to learn. She didn’t know if Drake was strong enough to win a fight against them -she tended to think that he was, only because he had time and experience on his side; who knew how many people he had defeated in his almost ten years as a Marine- and from what he had told them, the stronger the people beating your ass every day, the quicker you developed haki. He refused to tell them who he had trained under, even if he tended to throw Luffy strange looks when he talked about this period of his life.

So instead of going one on one against them, he had instead decided that armament training would instead be a free-for-all between the four of them. It seemed to work for them, and for multiple reasons.

Firstly, it allowed Sanji and Zoro to kick each other ass in a real fight, without going too far. They couldn’t risk getting too involved in their battle against each other, because Drake or Luffy would use it as an opportunity to attack them when they weren’t ready for it.

Secondly, it taught them how to fight multiple enemies at once, enemies that weren’t weaklings. They all had wide-ranged attacks -Zoro had taken care of all of the bounty hunters of Whiskey Peak by himself, after all- but they weren’t enough to defeat stronger enemies. They had to learn how to prioritize, how to make sure never to leave their back open while focusing on one opponent. Furthermore, they had access to a wide range of fighting styles between the four of them. Sanji and Luffy were melee fighters, with Luffy able to attack from afar if he needed to, Zoro a swordsman and Drake a mix of the two depending on his mood.

For now, it meant that they were able to fight each other for an hour without anyone being declared a clear winner.

By the end of the hour, they had all worked to a good state of being. Not quite exhaustion, since it would be irresponsible, but they had a good workout that would leave them with aches at the end of the day. It would all be healed up by the next morning, and the alternation of armament and observation training meant that they never were overworked.

~~One Piece~~

Chopper had just finished making sure that no one was badly hurt when a hesitant voice greeted them.

“Uh… Heso ?” Called out someone, and they turned to see a blonde woman holding what seemed to be a fox in her arms, looking at them hesitantly.

“Hi !” Said Luffy.

“Hello, mademoiselle.” Said Sanji, teleporting at her feet in a kneeling position. “Are you an angel ?” He asked.

“Uhh…” She hesitated. Before she could answer, a man appeared from behind the hill she was standing on, riding some sort of contraption on the sea.

“Conis, are those people bothering you ?” He shouted, coming to a stop on the beach next to them.

“I want that.” Whispered Nami as she examined the machine. She could see the bottom from where it was resting sideways on the ground, and she could see that it looked like a miniature boat. However, its small size and the fact that it wasn’t using any means she knew to advance meant that it was something she had to get her hands on.

“Let’s try to make friends with the locals before we steal from them.” Answered Drake in the same tone of voice.

Nami glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, surprised at the lack of condemnation in his voice. No one in the crew really cared when she stole something -not like she did recently, she tended to bargain to extremely advantageous prices instead- but they usually didn’t casually mention stealing, at least not in a serious way. She didn’t think Drake was the kind of person who would condone the stealing of someone’s property just because she wanted it, but at least he wasn’t judging her, not outwardly.

Maybe he had just resigned himself to his pirate life.

“We were just greeting each other, dad.” Said the blonde, and Nami focused back on her. “I’m Conis.” She introduced herself. “And this is my dad, Pagaya, and my fox, Sue.”

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy, a pira-” “Nami.” She cut him off as she elbowed him in the side. “This is Zoro, Sanji, Chopper, Ussop, Drake, and Robin is staying on our ship.” She continued, pointing at each person as she named them. “Nice to meet you.” She smiled sweetly. She needed to get the introduction out of the way so she could ask them about the vehicle, but Conis, at least, seemed to be a kind person, so she didn’t want to be rude.

“Heso.” Said Conis and Pagaya at the same time. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before ?” Asked Conis.

“Oh, we’re from the Blue Sea.” Admitted Nami, ignoring their weird greeting. “We’re just sightseeing here, everything is just new and very interesting… Like that machine here, I’ve never seen anything like it before. Do you know how it works ?”

“This is a waver.” Answered Pagaya. “You don’t have anything like that on the Blue Sea ?” He asked.

“So this is what a waver looks like…” Murmured Nami. “No, or at least I’ve never seen anything like it.” She answered in a louder voice.

“You’ve heard of it ?” Asked Luffy.

“It was mentioned in Montblanc’s diary.” She reminded him.

“Do you want to try it ? It takes hours to learn how to control them, but a test ride won’t hurt.” Offered Pagaya.

“Ye-” Started to answer Luffy, before getting once more cut off by Nami. “Of course, if it’s not too much problem, I’d like to.”

“No, not at all. Here, you put your feet that way, your hands have to stay here…” He started to explain as he showed her how the waver worked.

“You really are from the Blue Sea ?” Asked Conis, looking fondly at her father.

“Yes. The landscape is really striking, it looks like nothing I’ve seen before.” Answered Drake as he kept an eye on Nami. “What is used to propel the waver ?” Since the navigator had gotten too distracted by the prospect of trying the machine to get more intel on its inner working, he wanted to ask in her stead.

“Oh, it’s a clever application of dials.” Answered Conis.

“Dials ?” Asked Chopper. Conis blinked a few times at the talking animal, not having noticed him during the quick introductions, before she decided to chalk it as just a weird thing from the Blue Sea.

“You don’t have dials ?”

“Uh, I don’t know ?” Answered Chopper, tilting his head back to see the rest of the crew.

“I’ve never heard of anything like it.” Confirmed Usopp.

“Oh, we must take you to our home then.” Said Pagaya, tired of yelling at Nami to slow down. “I have a lot to show you.”

~~One Piece~~

“Navigator-san is taking a long time to come back.” Remarked idly Robin. When offered the chance to make contact with the locals, she had agreed to let Zoro keep watch on the Merry while she followed on land. Or at least, on those condensed clouds used as land.

“Maybe she got lost trying to join us.” She added.

“Unlikely. Well, she would have known better than to ask Zoro for directions anyway, so she should at least have been back on Merry.” Answered Drake, checking through the windows of Pagaya’s house if Zoro was still alone keeping watch.

“We don’t know anything about the sailing here. Maybe she got lost trying to go back to the ship.” Countered Robin.

“It’s Nami, she won’t get lost at sea, no matter how weird the sea is.” Protested Drake.

“Your friend still isn’t back ?” Asked Pagaya, looking worriedly at them.

“No. Do you know where she could have gone ?”

“There is…” He hesitated, looking back toward Conis. “There is a land. It’s not far from here on a waver, maybe ten, fifteen minutes.” He started to explain. “The Upper Yard, it is called. It is God’s land, no one is allowed to put foot on it.”

“God ?” Snorted Zoro, while Usopp looked at him fearfully.

“What happens if someone does ?” Asked Robin.

“God punishes them.” Answered Pagaya.

“And how does… God, do that ?” Asks Drake, sending a warning glance at Zoro when it looked like he would react again.

“He smites them.” Answered Conis fearfully.

“We can’t let Nami get smitten !” Cried out Chopper.

“Let’s go back to the beach.” Ordered Luffy. “Maybe we’ll see her from there.”

~~One Piece~~

Nami wasn’t at the beach, and she wasn’t on the sea as far as they could see.

“Can’t you sense her ?” Asked Usopp, turning toward Drake. The zoan closed his eyes, trying to focus on her presence. There was something, too far for him to say with any kind of certainty, just at the limit of his range, that was moving fast toward them. “There is someone coming toward us from there, but I can’t tell if it’s her.” He admitted. “More importantly, there are people trying to sneak on us.”

They turned to look at where he was pointing, to see five men, in some kind of uniform, crawling on the floor toward them.

“Oh, it’s the White Berets.” Identified Conis.

“You, criminals !” Shouted one of the men, coming back to his feet.

“Criminal ?” Repeated Usopp.

“You invaded this country, refused to pay the entrance fee, which makes you class eleven criminals ! You have to pay a fine of ten times the entrance fee, for which of you, which makes it… 80 billion extol.”

“The witch won’t like that.” Snorted Zoro.

“How dare-” Started to say Sanji.

“Boys !” Protested Drake, before he turned toward the White Berets. They had other problems right now. Nami had gotten close enough that he could recognize her presence, and if the sheer panic he could feel emanating from her was any indication, they didn’t have time to waste with the local law enforcement, not when they weren’t strong enough to be any kind of danger for them. “We’re, of course, going to pay the toll, the person who has our money is coming back, if you’ll just wait a few minutes.”

“Nami’s fine ?” Asked Luffy, getting a nod.

“She’s not hurt.” He confirmed. “But something happened.”

“What ?” Asked Sanji worriedly.

“I don’t know.” Said Drake. He didn’t want to reveal the extent of his abilities in front of the police, and he truly didn’t know. Telling them that Nami was terrified wouldn’t help any, not when she would arrive any minute now.

“Ah, I think I’m seeing her.” Said Usopp as he scanned the sea through his goggles.

“Luffy !” Shouted Nami as soon as she got close enough, jumping from the waver before it was properly stopped and running toward them. However, before she could reach her crew, the White Berets moved to put themselves between them, some moving behind her to surround her.

“Miss, you and your crew have committed a class eleven crime, which means that you incurred a debt and will have a pay a bill of-”

Nami didn’t let him finish his sentence, her clima-tact appearing in his hand and crashing against the head of the man who had talked. Before the rest of the Berets could react, Sanji had rendered them all unconscious.

“Don’t bother Nami-san !”

“You…” The man that Nami had hit was watching them from his position on the ground, half unconscious from the hit. “You have attacked the White Berets, you are now class two criminals, you will be sentenced-”

“Like I care !” Shouted back Nami. “I’m not paying any bill ! Anyway, Luffy ! We need to get away from here, like right now.”

“What happened ?” He asked her.

“I sort of lost track of the time, and I got near an island that looked like a normal island, with dirt and trees forming some sort of jungle, so I went there to explore since it looked so out of place.” She started to explain. “But when I reached the edge of the island, I heard people fighting, and suddenly a huge lightning bolt came out of nowhere and killed one of them !” She ended with a whisper-shout.

“Wow, really ?” Asked Luffy, and Nami went to agree before she noticed the glint in his eyes. Too late. “That seems so cool ! I want to explore there, you said there was a jungle ? I love jungles.” He exclaimed happily. “There are clouds, and a jungle, this place is so nice…” He mumbled, before he grinned at them all, not caring about Nami, Chopper, and Usopp desperation, or the others resigned and amused faces. “We’re going on an adventure !” He shouted. “We need snacks.”

“I’ll go tell swordsman-san what we are doing.” Said Robin.

Nami, instantly seeing that by agreeing to go on the Merry, she might be able to avoid getting dragged into this, moved quickly to Robin’s side. “Me too, I’m going back to Merry !”

“Ah, me too !” Shouted Chopper as he remembered that it was there that they had left the knight’s whistle.

Usopp shot them a betrayed look as Luffy’s hand grabbed his arm before he could try to join them.

“Can we at least go back to Pagaya’s house before, to take a few dials ? Maybe some of them will be fun ?” He begged, trying to delay their going.

“Sure.” Easily agreed Luffy.

“Do you need to take anything ?” Asked Drake as he started to walk next to Sanji, the four of them following Pagaya up the stairs and back to his house.

“No, but we’ll have to go back to the Merry either way.” Answered the cook. “The food here seems interesting, but given what I have seen in his fridge-” He started to explain, when shouts of panic made them turn around.

“That was Nami !” He panicked. “Nami and Robin are in danger.” He started to run down the stairs, but it was already too late, and they were only able to see the Merry start to move violently and suddenly forward and disappear away.

Chapter Text

“Do you need to take anything ?” Asked Drake as he started to walk next to Sanji, the four of them following Pagaya up the stairs and back to his house.

“No, but we’ll have to go back to the Merry either way.” Answered the cook. “The food here seems interesting, but given what I have seen in his fridge-” He started to explain, when shouts of panic made them turn around.

“That was Nami !” He panicked. “Nami and Robin are in danger.” He started to run down the stairs, but it was already too late, and they were only able to see the Merry start to move violently and suddenly forward and disappear away.

“What the fuck just happened.” Asked Drake, bewildered as he watched the empty place where their ship, and their friends, had been just seconds before.

“You are criminals now.” Told them Pagaya, flinching a little as their gaze landed on him. “The Express Shrimp has taken everyone that was aboard the ship to the sacrificial altar in the Upper Yard.”

“Upper Yard ?”

“The place where your red-haired friend went.”

“The place where no one is supposed to set foot for fear of being smitten ?” Checked Usopp.

“And that’s where Nami and Robin were sent ?” Panicked Sanji.

“And Zoro and Chopper.” Added Drake.

“Sacrificial altar ?” Repeated Usopp, his tone more hysterical.

“They’ll be used as hostages to draw you all out there. As soon as you set foot on there, you will be punishable by death.”

“We’ll have to rescue them, then.” Said Luffy.

“I’ll be Nami and Robin’s savior.” Gasped Sanji, suddenly interested by the idea, before he glowered at Luffy. “You should be more concerned about what is happening to them !”

“It’s okay, Zoro’s with them.” Said Luffy with a smile, ignoring Sanji’s spluttering that it wasn’t okay and Marimo better not let anything happen to them !

“If you want to go there, I can lead you to your boats.” Offered Conis as she joined them back on the stairs. They hadn’t really noticed her missing until now, but Drake frowned as he sensed her inner turmoil.

“Sure, let’s go.” Immediately accepted Luffy.

~~One Piece~~

Conis unease grew the closer they got to where the boats were docked. She had plastered a smile on her face, but her answers were just a little too short, a little too stilted. Drake could feel her unease as she led them through a town, and the fact that the town seemed to be empty, but he could feel the citizen looking at them as they passed by, told him that there was something more going on.

He couldn’t see what exactly, though. Conis wasn’t leading them somewhere else, they had seen the boats when they were getting closer to the town and, as far as he was able to determine based on the view they had from above, they were going in the right direction. So she wasn’t leading them into a trap, or at least not an obvious one. And she hadn’t been with them for barely a minute, when they had rushed up the stairs to Pagaya’s home to go on what they thought of as an adventure.

Now, with half of the crew missing, this place suddenly seemed to lose its paradisal feeling. Luffy might act like he didn’t care, but Drake knew that it wasn’t quite true. He had to be worried about them, even if he was still interested in exploring this new and strange island. Sure, he trusted his crew, trusted them to take care of themselves and each other, but Drake knew that none of them would let themself get distracted too much by their surroundings until they were sure that everyone was safe. They might have proved in Alabasta that even when separated, they could all win their fight, but it didn’t mean that he liked having his crew spread out when it wasn’t by choice.

He certainly didn’t like knowing that they could be in untold danger right this second, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

They reached the docks, and Conis showcased the boats for a minute, her twitchiness growing the longer Luffy and Usopp debated on which ship was the best, until, finally, she broke down.

“Luffy, I’m, I’m so sorry, I couldn’t-”

Drake could feel the sudden panic coming from the villagers surrounding them, and he unconsciously moved into a fighting stance. He still couldn’t feel any threat around, but observation haki wasn’t his strength, and who knew what some habitants of the sky islands were able to do. Or what their strange technology could produce. He could right now be in the crosshair of some long-range rifle powered by dials without knowing it, and until whatever made the citizen so panicked showed itself, he had no way of knowing what they feared.

“I had no choice, but I didn’t want to betray you-” Babbled Conis, until Luffy’s hand clamped over her mouth from the side, stopping her.

“It’s ok. No matter what you did, I don’t want to hear it, alright ?” He removed his hand and moved a little to be in front of her. “I’m sure my friends are still fine, and we’ll be reunited soon, so there’s no need to-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Drake’s haki screamed at him. A lightning bolt suddenly struck the ground, blinding him for a second. He blinked furiously to try to see something, because that bolt had hit just where Connis was standing, and he had been too far to do anything…

He couldn’t see anyone where she had been standing even just a moment before, and for a second he feared the worst, when suddenly a loud sound, a mix between a bird cry and a horse neigh startled him. He raised his head, blinking some more as the sun shined right in his eyes, and finally recognized Gan Fall, holding onto Conis with one arm, his weird horse posing in the sky as it beat its power full wings to keep itself flying.

“Old man !” Shouted Luffy, relieved.

“Leave her to me !” Shot back Gan Fall, raising his spear high above his head. “I’ll take her somewhere safe.”

“You do that !” Answered Luffy.

“That was far too close.” Said Sanji, frowning at their departing back.

“What was that ?” Wheezed Usopp.

“Probably what Nami saw on the… Upper Yard, wasn’t it ?” Answered Drake.

“Did someone do that ?” Wondered Sanji.

“It came all too fast for me to find out. I don’t know if it’s someone, or some sort of weapon.” He answered. “Anyway, it wasn’t natural.”

“We’ll have to be careful then.” Said Sanji, as they followed Luffy into one of the boats.

“How can you avoid being hit by a bolt of lightning ?” Asked Usopp.

“Reflexes ?” Answered Drake. “I’m not sure I’d be able to escape it if it targeted me.” It disturbed him a little. He had gotten used to being fast enough to avoid most attacks. As dangerous as Little Garden was, he hadn't had much trouble being the biggest predator around. He hoped it hadn’t made him grow complacent.

~~One Piece~~

They didn’t see anything out of the ordinary for a few minutes. If you counted floating cloud-road-river things as the ordinary. They formed a clear path, with no intersection for them to get lost at.

Until suddenly, they entered a clearing, where the road divided into four. Each one was leading into a different tunnel, each with a writing on top, ‘Swamp trial’, ‘String trial’, ‘Iron trial’, and ‘Balls trial’.

“Uh. Which path are we taking ?” Asked Sanji as he slowed the ship to a stop.

“Trials ? Why isn’t there a normal path ?” Complained Usopp.

“All of them sound bad.” Said Drake.

“Really ? They don’t seem that threatening.”

“We’re going Balls ! It seems the most fun !” Decided Luffy, and since no one had a better idea, they turned their ship toward the ‘Balls trials’ tunnel.

“Well, one of the Shichibukai has the String-String fruit.” Explained Drake. “And he can do pretty gruesome things with it. I know there exist a swamp logia somewhere, but I don’t know if it has been found out since its last user died. It’s one of the weakest logia, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t powerful against most people. Uh… I don’t really know about iron. That generally reminds me of weapons, so it’s the most obviously threatening, I guess.”

“Wasn’t the guy Zoro fought able to transform into some sort of metal ?” Asked Usopp.

“That’s right, I had forgotten about him. Not iron, but something else, steel I think. There might be an iron devil fruit out there.”

“And balls ?” Asked Luffy. By then, no one was watching the front of the boat and they had reached the middle of the tunnel.

“There’s Captain Very Good, who is able to transform his body into balls. He is able to control them within a certain distance of his feet, and it makes him more or less invincible against blunt hits, since they just make him bounce without doing dama-”

He cut off with a scream that he would forever deny making as the ship suddenly disappeared under them, plunging them into a freefall.

They landed on another cloud river with a splash, the boat surprisingly intact.

“I’m never ever ever doing that again.” Wheezed Usopp, one hand latching onto the ship’s railing. “What happened !” He shrieked as he found his voice again after having screamed in surprise.

“Shishishi, that was a huge fall.” Smiled Luffy, one hand coming on top of his eyes to shield them from the sun as he tried to see the exit of the tunnel above them.

“You okay, Drake ?” Asked Sanji as he lit up a cigarette, taking a highly needed puff from it.

Drake just blinked. His eyes had turned yellow, and scales were still covering half of his face, disappearing under his clothes. Slowly, he turned his head to look at Sanji, claws receding into his fingers, leaving behind puncture marks into the wood and a clear imprint of his hand.

“I’m an earth animal.” He answered, aiming for a dry tone but it came out far too high for his tastes. “I’m never going to a sky island ever again.”

“Hear, hear.” Muttered Usopp.

“At least we’ve probably reached this ordeal of balls.” Said Sanji as he looked at the ever-growing amount of floating orbs surrounding them.

“Maybe the ordeal is having a heart attack, and the orbs the recompense.” Deadpanned Drake. Despite the humor, he frowned slightly, tilting his head to the side. His instincts were freaking out after this fright and the setting seemed far too suspicious for the supposed trial to be over yet.

“That’d be boring.” Scowled Luffy as one orb floated right in front of his nose. He curiously poked it, crying out in surprise as a snake suddenly jerked out of it and tried to attack him. He punched it in the face before he could get bitten, sending it flying away.

“This is so freakish…” Whined Usopp, and Drake nodded.

“Ohh ooh, you don’t like my surprises ?” An annoying voice came out.

“Who said that ?” Asked Luffy, turning around.

“It’s me, Priest Satori, ohh ooh oohh !” A round man was hopping from foot to foot on a branch above them. He had round glasses, a round hat, and his white clothes were decorated with rounds. All in all, it wasn’t hard to guess who he was.

“You’re the one responsible for this ordeal ?” Called out Drake.

“Ohh ooh, you have been trapped in my trial of the orbs ! No one ever escaped it before, ohh ooh.”

“He’s really annoying.” Muttered Sanji.

“I know people with weird laughs, but damn does he sound dumb.” Agreed Drake.

“You won’t be able to keep us here !” Shouted Luffy as he cocked his fist back. He extended his arm, aiming for Satori, only for the round man to easily sidestep the hit.

Drake frowned at that, because while Luffy’s attack hadn’t been as quick as he could make them, Satori had still managed to evade it too easily for his tastes.

And then, the Priest hopped toward them, and thrust his open palm at Luffy.

And sent him flying with a grunt of pain.

“What ?” Shouted Sanji.

“He's definitely doing something.” Warned Drake. The man didn’t feel strong enough to have picked up armament haki. He hated this uncertainty, not knowing if their abilities came from Devil Fruits or technology. Maybe sea stone, or, scarier, some sort of equivalent of sea stone coming from the sky islands ? The clouds they were on were mostly made of water, still water. Which meant that Devil Fruits users would be weakened by them. If they had managed to weaponize clouds, just like they had managed to make rivers out of them, that was half of the crew with a serious disadvantage.

But, no, sea stone wasn’t findable everywhere in the ocean, you could only find it in certain islands under certain conditions. He doubted that the strict combination of pressure and heat that had been necessary to solidify the sea into stone form could be recreated this high up.

Not unless they had sky volcanoes.

“Haki ?” Asked Sanji, warily taking a fighting stance.

“I don’t know.” Answered truthfully Drake.

Luffy jumped back to his feet just as Usopp tried to attack Satori, and once again the man managed to avoid his projectiles.

“Okay, that’s definitely observation haki.” He amended. “But I don’t think the hit was armament, he feels too weak for that.”

“Then it means that I just need to prevent him from dodging.” Said Sanji, and he aimed a quick kick toward the priest. This time it wasn’t dodged, but Satori stopped it with his palm, not looking like he had felt the hit at all. He went to counterattack, but Drake was expecting it, and managed to grab Sanji and tug him out of the way as the sudden wave of energy came out of the priest’s hand, almost making them both fall off the boat.

“That’s what he used against Luffy.” Guessed Usopp as he eyed their opponent warily.

“Some sort of weapon.” Agreed Drake. “Hidden in his palm of his hand.”

“We’ll need to avoid getting hit, who knows what it can do.” Said Sanji.

“Gomu Gomu No…”

“Tell that to Luffy.” Sighed Usopp as they watched Satori block the hit with his open palm and retaliate, sending Luffy crashing once again.

“Let’s all attack at the same time, I’ll try something to overwhelm his haki. He seems to be weak enough that it would work.” The man certainly wasn’t strong, but he still was a priest, which had to be a rank here, and he was in charge of this ordeal so he wasn’t just some low-level grunt. Furthermore, he had boasted of no one escaping him before, and while he didn’t know how true that was, he could guess that it meant that most people didn’t have access to haki. Someone with hidden weapons, with access to observation where few people had it, he wouldn’t have trained hard. Which meant that the easy way to overwhelm his haki would work.

Instead of trying to hide his presence to attack sneakily, Drake flared it. Satori managed to avoid his hit, but just as Drake had anticipated, he wasn’t able to detect Sanji coming from the other side, or Usopp's projectile. They both hit their goal, a small explosion right in Satori’s face destabilizing him just as Sanji’s kick sent him flying into a tree.

Drake and Sanji had jumped away from the boat to attack, but the zoan quickly went back into it and rejoined Usopp. It wasn’t the best place to fight, what with it moving and not being very resistant or even stable, but they couldn’t risk losing the boat, not if they wanted to find the rest of their crew quickly. Usopp alone wouldn’t be enough to protect it if the priest tried to destroy it, especially if he had more hidden weapons on him.

“How could you do that !” Shouted Satori as he struggled to get back on his feet, rolling on the ground for a few seconds before he managed to get into a position that allowed him get back up. “My mantra allows me to predict every attack, I’ve never been hit before.” He panicked.

“Mantra ?” Repeated Usopp.

“Must be haki.” Answered Drake. “And he’s losing it.” He added as he ducked one of the orbs who had been sent at him, listening to Satori start to rant in the background. Sanji went to kick the one flying toward him, only to see the one that Drake had just avoided explode as it hit a vine. He threw himself on the ground in a particularly undignified manner to avoid getting hit.

“I thought there were animals in them !” He protested.

“Who knows what they’re filled with.” Said Usopp as he watched warily the balls floating all around them.

“We should attack before he has the time to focus enough to get his control back on his observation. Not that we need to, really.” Drake snorted. As long as they were able to avoid his hands and being hit by one of those orbs, they should be able to defeat him easily. Satori wasn’t strong enough to do any damage on his own.

“I’m not sure we’d be able to defeat him easily if he has full control of his Haki. We’ve rarely been able to hit you when sparring if you don’t want it.” Asked Sanji.

“Well, in a one-on-one fight, you’d had difficulty hitting me, but here he has to fight the four of us. And his haki isn’t as developed as mine, which means it isn’t developed at all.” He was well aware that his own observation was average, and even his armament could use some work. Sadly, as long as no one on the crew was able to defeat him, his progress would be slow. Still faster than it had been on Little Garden, where he had mostly focused on his devil fruit and tried not to lose his haki level, but unless he unlocked them in a fight, there were a lot of abilities he hadn’t yet reached.

“So, I think you’re fast enough to be able to kick him, even if it forces you to sacrifice strength for speed. Usopp, while your projectiles won’t be fast enough to hit him directly, you can try to aim for your surroundings. Haki doesn’t warn you of anything that isn’t an attack.” At least his didn’t, and it was true for most people. He had heard rumors that some had trained their observation haki to new heights, and it wasn’t surprising given that there were people able to fight, and maybe not win but at least get to a standstill against Admiral Kizaru who was way too fast for most people to simply react after an attack. “And Luffy… He’s quite smart when it comes to fighting.” He admitted as he watched Luffy launch a Gomu Gomu no Gatling at Satori.

The priest dodged the first few blows before he got overwhelmed, and got pummelled by Luffy’s fists. Just as the attack stopped, Usopp released an exploding star, hitting him in the middle of the face.

“That was easier than I thought.” Admitted Usopp, watching the unmoving man on the ground.

“He’s not unconscious yet.” Warned Drake.

“Let’s do this once more.” Said Sanji, jumping toward Satori. Drake jumped after him, flared his presence and swung his sword, only for Satori to focus entirely on him, and block the swing with his palm. Before Sanji’s kick could connect, Satori had counterattacked, grabbing Drake’s leather shirt with his free hand, sending back Drake’s attack with the other. He grunted in pain as he felt the energy pass through his torso. Sanji’s kick sent them both crashing toward the ground, Usopp panicked shout following them.

“Oh no you don’t.” Grunted Drake as Satori tried to get away from him. He grabbed his outstretched arm, and with a burst of Zoan strength, closed his hand. Satori cried out in pain as his bone was crunched under Drake’s tight grip. “What do you have here ?” He asked as he grabbed roughly Satori’s palm with his free hand, tearing off the object he had felt.

Luffy attacked once again, and this time Satori was unable to escape thanks to Drake’s hold, and took the Bazooka head-on, falling unconscious.

“You okay there Drake ?” Asked Luffy as he landed next to him.

“Sure. Let’s get back to the ship.” Answered Drake, taking Luffy’s offered hand and getting back on his feet, looping one arm around his middle as the captain Rocketed them back to the ship.

“What did you take from him ?” Usopp asked, and Drake wordlessly opened his palm, showing the small object inside. “It looks like some sort of dial. An impact dial, maybe ? Pagaya mentioned them.”

“Maybe. Here, take it.” He held out his hand for Usopp. “You’re probably the best one to think of something useful to do with it.”

~~One Piece~~

They didn’t encounter anyone else, and finally reached some sort of clearing in the middle of the jungle. There was an old altar in the middle of a small lake of clouds, and Merry was perched on top of the atlar.

“Merry !” Shouted happily Usopp.

“Oi, everyone !” Called out Zoro. They turned to see Zoro, Nami and Robin, standing right to the edge between the forest and the clouds.

“Nami, Robin, I’m so happy to see you again.” Swooned Sanji.

“Is everything alright ?” Asked Drake.

“Sure, we just got dropped there, but nothing happened.” Answered Nami.

“We went to explore a little.” Added Robin. “We found a few interesting things.”

Chapter Text

“Is everything alright ?” Asked Drake.

“Sure, we just got dropped there, but nothing happened.” Answered Nami.

“We went to explore a little.” Added Robin. “We found a few interesting things.”

Before Robin could explain what they had found in the jungle, their small ship reached the bottom of the altar. Usopp ran up the stairs, stopping in his tracks when he reached the top and had a good look at Merry.

Her mast had been partially destroyed and was laying across the deck, and she was covered in soot and burn marks.

“What happened…” He asked, bewildered.

“I’M SO SORRY.” Chopper wail took them by surprise, the small reindeer appearing atop the Merry, bandages covering most of his body as he clung to the railing, tears in his eyes. “I was so weak and I got attacked and I couldn’t protect Merry no matter how hard I tried, and I really tried I did-” He started to sob, making his words harder to understand. “And I called Gan Fall because I wasn’t strong enough and he got hurt as well just like Merry and now he’s unconscious and I don’t know how to fix it…” His voice had risen at the end of his speech, and he would have continued talking had Usopp not slipped an arm through Merry’s railing and dragged him into a hug.

“Are you alright ?” He asked, more worried for Chopper than for the Merry. Patches of burned fur could be seen peeking out of the bandages, and he didn’t know how much he had been able to tend to his own wounds.

Chopper just kept on crying, and one of Usopp’s hands started to slowly pat the back of his head in an attempt to comfort him.

“Nothing happened.” Repeated Drake, turning to look at Nami, who blanched when she looked at him. He forced his rage under control, his expression suddenly becoming blank.

“I’m-” She started to say, only for him to cut her off with a sharp move of his hand.

“You were separated from the rest of the crew, you were brought here for some unknown reason, after having been, only minutes before, informed that we were considered criminals, and not too long before that you’ve seen a man get murdered right in front of your eyes on this very island. This isn’t a peaceful, empty beach with clear visibility on all sides, with the rest of the crew nearby. I know you’re all smart enough to see that this is clearly a dangerous environment.” His first impression of Zoro was that the man had tried to cut off his own legs, so he didn’t hold much hope in his survival instincts, but as a previous bounty hunter turned pirate, he had to recognize an obvious trap when he saw one.

“Don’t…” Started to protest Sanji instinctively, not liking the tone he was using to talk to Nami, before he trailed off, knowing that now wasn’t the time. Not when Chopper was still sniffling in Usopp’s arms.

“And despite all the signs that you were in danger, and that the one thing you had to do was stay together not to risk getting forcefully separated again, you had no problem leaving one man behind. With. Leaving. Chopper. Alone. With the task of protecting Merry by his lonesome, trapped here without any quick means of hiding or escaping.”

Zoro would relish the challenge of facing someone stronger than him, and anyone strong enough to defeat him would be able to get through any of the others as well. Nami had her range of tricks that would allow her to stall long enough to get to safety, or to defeat her enemy from a distance. Robin had survived far too much for him to doubt her ability to come out of any fight alive.

Chopper was their youngest, still a kid, really, barely off his island and still wanting to prove his own worth. He would have stayed and fought, both out of the need to protect Merry and to show that he was able to defeat someone on his own. And no matter how resilient his Heavy Point made him look, he wasn’t like Luffy, able to take hits and keep fighting without caring for how much he got hurt.

Nami was looking at the floor in shame, and Zoro had fixed his gaze toward the jungle, away from him. Only Robin was meeting his burning gaze, unafraid.

He didn’t care how much they regretted what they had done. “It could have ended in Chopper’s death.” He added, and multiple people flinched at that. “I’ve seen how far you were willing to go for each other, and now you just left one of ours behind ? Was whatever you were trying to find when you went to explore even worth it ? What you actually found ? You went searching for, what, fortune ? Adventure ?”

“I’m sorry.” Said Nami after the silence grew too opressing, walking slightly closer to Chopper and Usopp, taking a small detour to avoid getting too close to Drake. “I didn’t think…” She trailed off. It was all excuses, she knew it, there was no good reason. She hadn’t thought that they would stay away for long, she hadn’t thought that Chopper would be in any kind of danger… She had only thought that this island was mysterious, and apparently forbidden, and it was their best chance at finding some treasures quickly, and Zoro was here to protect her anyway. None of that mattered, not when Chopper was hurt because she hadn’t been there to help him.

Luffy had never left her behind. Not even when she had wanted him to do so.

“It’s alright.” Sniffed Chopper, raising his head from Usopp’s torso to look at her. “I agreed to stay here alone.”

She didn’t say anything, just smiled weakly at him, because he hadn’t agreed, really, they had all just left without even thinking that it would leave him alone.

“Chopper, it’s not okay.” Said Drake, his voice softer, warmer now that he was talking to their doctor. “Even if you agreed, they should never have asked you to stay alone, not when we’re in the middle of the enemy territory. We all need to learn to be a little more careful with each other.” He turned his glare on them at that, making it clear that even if Chopper had forgiven them, they weren’t off the hook with him yet.

Nobody protested, not even Sanji who was looking away from them. Robin still looked impassive, but he could see that it was clearly a mask, and she regretted having left Chopper behind. She might not have been with them for long, but she had become fond of the small doctor.

Drake went to Chopper, ignoring the way Nami very carefully didn’t flinch away from him, patted him on the head a few times before letting himself fall against the hull of the Merry, sitting with his back against it.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath because, fuck, it hurt, he had trusted them to be better than that, he knew they were better than that, but he didn’t want to be reminded of the Marines, carelessly leaving their men behind, only trying to save them if they were worth it, as if human lives could be attributed a worth to them…

He knew they weren’t like that, had seen how far Luffy, how far the whole crew had gone to save their own, even to help Vivi who wasn’t even a member of their crew, but it didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt to see them so careless with the lives of their crewmates.

It hadn’t been malicious. He knew that, no matter how furious he was. Had they known that Chopper would be in danger, they would have done everything to help him. But they hadn’t even considered how risky it could be for him, alone on this island.

He opened his eyes when he heard subdued voices starting to talk again. They had relocated aboard the Merry, leaving him alone for a moment, and he rose to his feet and climbed up to see Nami showing something to Luffy. She hesitated when she saw him, her voice faltering for a second, before she continued talking, explaining what they had found out while exploring. He could understand why she was uncomfortable right now.

“... And we’re pretty sure that it was the other half of Cricket’s house, because it looked exactly the same and was cut in half as well.” She ended.

“So it means that the gold is here ?” Asked Luffy, interested. Islands being sent up in the sky were cool.

“I think so.” She answered, still subdued. “We can try to combine this map of Skypiea with the one Cricket gave us of Jaya when we went looking for the south bird, see if it gives us a better clue of where it is hidden.”

“Here, navigator-san.” Said Robin, a few extra hands appearing along the railing, giving her the map.

“Looks like a skull.” Noted Luffy.

“... You’re right.” Realized Nami, surprised. “Wait, that reminds me of something I read in Noland’s book. It said that-” she scrunched up her nose as she tried to remember what she had read. “-the gold was hidden in the skull’s right eye. That must be a real clue.”

“We’ll have to go explore there.” Decided Luffy.

“Not right now.” Interrupted Sanji. “Night’s about to fall. We should go hunt for something to eat.” He looked around. “We’re far too exposed here for my tastes, I think we’ll be better if we camp in the forest tonight.”

“Oh, we can have a campfire !” Exclaimed Luffy.

“I haven’t cooked something over a campfire for a long time, that’ll be interesting.” Nodded Sanji.

“Interested in a rematch of Little Garden ?” Asked Zoro.

“You’re on, shitty marimo.” He sneered back.

“We can go looking for wood.” Offered Nami, pointing at her and Robin.

“I’ll try to fix up Merry.” Answered Usopp. He had already started to do minor work, but he still needed to somehow get the mast back in place, and then there were all those planks damaged by the fire. Honestly, he didn’t know how he would repair her this time.

“I’ll help.” Said Chopper, determined even if he was lacking in his usual enthusiasm.

“I’ll stay as well.” Added Drake.

“I’ll go hunt something too !” Said Luffy. “I haven’t hunted in a jungle for a long time.” His smile was more wistful than usual.

“Can I talk to you for a minute ?” Asked Drake quietly before Luffy could leave, watching the four others go to the forest.

“Sure.” Answered easily Luffy.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped.” Started Drake. “It wasn’t my place to say anything.” The apology was only half sincere. The respect of the chain of command was still ingrained in him, and it was especially important for pirates to respect their captain, or it could cause the destruction of the crew down the line, but at the same time he wouldn’t have kept quiet, and he wasn’t sorry about that.

“It’s fine.” Answered Luffy, a small frown on his face. “It’s something you feel strongly about, so you were right to let everyone know.”

Drake scowled at himself. “Still, it undermines you. You’re our captain, if I have a problem with how things are run, I should have talked to you first.”

“I don’t know anything about this serious stuff.” Answered Luffy honestly. “We’re all friends, we’re all nakamas. And Chopper is fine, so I don’t have a problem with what happened. But if Drake thinks no one should be alone, then no one will be alone. You know more than me about strategy and all, so I listen to you. I listened to every one of my nakama. That's why you’re all here.” His eyes crinkled with his smile, and Drake couldn’t help but smile back.

“We’re lucky Chopper didn’t get seriously hurt.” He sighed, throwing a look at the reindeer that was dutifully nailing the railing back in place next to Usopp.

“Chopper’s strong.” Answered Luffy.

“I know.” Nodded Drake. For someone who had never left his island before, someone who was still fifteen, and didn’t have human reasoning for half of that, Chopper was both smart and strong. “I know he is. I trust him.”

He wasn’t sure how to explain it in a way that would make Luffy understand, and in the end chose not to try. It wasn’t about trust, it was that Chopper should never have had to fight alone when his crewmates should have been at his side. He might have shown that he was able to defeat an enemy in Alabasta, they all did, but at that time it had been a choice to separate. They had gone in knowing that they might have to fight against someone, and hoping that they would be able to win. Being attacked by someone obviously stronger than Chopper given his injuries, the damage done to Merry, and apparently the still unconscious Gan Fall, should never have happened.

Chopper wasn’t weak, far from it, but his fruit left him with glaring weaknesses no matter what form he used. He had to be smarter than his enemies to win, to change between forms cleverly, and given that his enemy was apparently using fire as a weapon, and all the unknown technology that existed on this island, he wasn't sure any form would have helped in this fight.

Chapter Text

Despite the remnants of unease caused by Drake’s earlier tirade, the crew had started to enjoy the evening as soon as Sanji started cooking. After the meal had somehow devolved into a party involving wolves of all things, they had fallen asleep in the middle of the jungle, the fire slowly petering out.

Robin had agreed to take the first watch, and that was why Drake was surprised when he felt someone lightly touching his shoulder and whispering his name.

“Usopp ?” He mumbled.

“Hey.” Usopp whispered back. “Sorry, but I really need to go relieve myself, and I don’t think I should be alone right now… Not that I’m scared or anything, I once-”

“Sure, I’ll go with you.” Cut him off Drake before he could start his lie.

He checked that Robin was still awake, which she was, and quickly gestured at her that they would go away for a bit. She nodded, readjusting her position against a nearby tree that oversaw the clearing clearly.

Drake followed Usopp wordlessly, swallowing back a yawn. He raised a questioning eyebrow at the sniper when he felt his eyes come back to his face regularly.

“Sorry. I’m just not used to seeing you without your eye mask or gloves when you’re not sleeping.”

Drake blinked, surprised. He hadn’t even noticed in his tired state that he hadn’t put them back on.

“If… If you don’t mind me asking…”

Having an eye mask wasn’t the strangest thing Drake had seen in his life. Hell, even in the Marines there were plenty of strange clothing styles, Dalmatien’s dog mask the first thing that came to his mind. But he guessed that for someone coming from the East Blue, Usopp hadn’t had a lot of chances to see weird clothing. Every famous person coming from the East that he could think of was mostly dressed normally.

“I have some light scarring around my left eye. Not particularly grave, but people tend to focus on it since it’s so close to my eye. I used to keep my hair long to hide it when I was younger, but then I couldn’t with all the marines regulations. As soon as I was ranking high enough that I could get away with customizing my uniform, I started wearing a mask. I guess I got into the habit, so I never really stopped even after leaving and letting my hair grow long again.” He explained easily.

“Uh, I never noticed.” Said Usopp, trying to peer at his face in the dark and abandoning after a few seconds when his foot caught in a root and he almost fell down. “Most of my scars are from explosions when I’m trying to create my own ammo.” He offered, holding out his arms in front of him.

Drake knew that he was wondering how he got his, but it wasn’t something he particularly wanted to talk about. He had received the scar on his chin the first time he had tried to rebel against his father, and he had decided to own it, tattooing the same pattern on his torso as a reminder that he would never let himself get pushed down again. The one around his eye had come from the time one of the drunk members of his father’s crew had broken a bottle of alcohol over his head, and while he hadn’t been ashamed of it for a long time, some people really got weird about facial scars. Since this one wasn’t something he was particularly proud of, he had decided to keep hiding it, even after his childhood.

“The gloves thing is mostly for style.” He admitted, distracting Usopp. “I had friends -Smoker was one of them- that started wearing gloves, and I liked it well enough to follow. Smoker likes to say that it’s because he uses a sea-stone weapon, and wants to limit as much as possible the risk of coming into contact with it, but he’s lying.”

Usopp laughed. “Really ? He doesn’t seem to be the type of guy who would care about style.”

“He wears a specialist marine jacket, created especially for cold climates, and keeps it open. He first started smoking because it looked cool, you know. Then he became addicted. Though the second cigar is new.” He, Hina, and Smoker had started smoking at the same time, started wearing gloves together as well. She had gotten into the habit of repositioning her gloves before attacking, while he had done the opposite in removing them. Similarly, Smoker had started to smoke more, while he had given up on the habit.

“You two were close ?”

“We trained at Marineford at the same time. Then he was sent to Loguetown, and I stayed in the Grand Line, and we lost contact.”

Usopp hummed, deciding not to ask any more questions, and went a few meters away to do his business. They stumbled back into the forest to go back to sleep, until they froze at the same time when they heard a sound.

“That’s where Merry is.” Whispered Drake, frowning.

“We can’t let her get hurt.” Whispered back Usopp. “Do something !”

Drake glared at him as he started walking toward where they heard the sound. It didn’t stop, a regular thud thud thud coming from the area.

“I’m not letting you go back alone, so follow me.” He hissed. Usopp swallowed, before following him, making sure to stay hidden behind Drake’s larger frame.

“Can’t you sense anyone ?” He asked just as they reached the edge of the forest.

“No. And that’s unusual.” Answered Drake. He squinted. The area was covered by fog, and he could barely see the outline of Merry through it, but- there, right next to Merry, there was some sort of human figure that had clearly moved.

“Is that someone ?” Asked Usopp, one goggle dropping down to his eye.

A slight gust of wind thinned the fog just enough to see the figure more clearly.

“No.” The denial fell through Drake's lips without him noticing.

Usopp looked up at him, freezing when he saw that Drake’s face had lost all his blood. The redhead was looking at the being, eyes wide, an expression Usopp couldn’t place on his face.

“What is it ?” He asked, an edge of panic in his voice.

“It’s… It’s a Klabautermann.” Stammered Drake, and Usopp frowned at him. He had never seen him like that before. Then again, he hadn’t seen him truly angry until a few hours ago. Still, something told him that Drake wasn’t easily flustered, and there was definitely something going on.

“What’s a Klabo…”

“It’s a physical manifestation of Merry’s spirit.” Drake swallowed heavily, before he grabbed Ussop’s wrist and started to tug him forward, almost making him fall. “We need to talk to her. They only appear when…” He froze once again at that, turning to look back at Usopp. “They only appear when a ship is close to dying.” He admitted in a whisper.

Usopp blinked at him.

There was blood rushing in his ears, and he couldn’t hear anything.

It had been grief. The expression on Drake's face had been grief.

“What are you saying ? Stop lying.” He instantly denied.

“They only start to exist when a ship is really loved by their crew.” Explained Drake. “They appear when the ship has to sail further but is no longer able to on its own. I’m sorry.” He said sincerely.

“Stop lying.” Hissed Usopp. He tugged his hand harshly to the side, taking it out of Drake’s hold, and started to walk quickly toward the Merry.

“Merry ?” He called out hesitantly as he neared the figure.

“Usopp ! Drake !” Answered the creature, her voice childish and happy. Now that he could see her clearly, he could see that she definitely wasn’t human. Her body was hidden beneath a cloak, but the face that had turned to face him was entirely white, and seemed to be glowing. A smile had appeared on her face despite it lacking a mouth only seconds before.

“Are you alright ?” He asked, looking at the repaired damages. The main mast had been nailed back in place with a huge plate of metal that he was pretty sure they didn’t have onboard. The repairs were pretty bad, and he didn’t know how long they would hold, but he could easily try to consolidate it now that the mast was upright once again.

“I’m dying, Usopp.” She answered, and her smile turned sad.

Usopp's heart froze in his chest.

“I’ll, I’ll fix you, don’t worry-” He started to say desperately, but she cut him off.

“You can’t fix me.”

He fell silent, watching her with tears in his eyes. She turned to face the Merry once again, the hand not holding her hammer coming to rest lightly against the wood.

“The knock-up stream was too much.” She explained, her hand trailing lower, to a nailed piece of wood that had been one of the first repairs that he had done. “Even without it, I wouldn’t have lasted much longer, but now my keel is damaged.”

Drake closed his eyes in dread.

“It’s just a crack for now, but the longer I sail, the more it’ll grow, and I’ll end up breaking in half.”

“Can’t we do anything ? We’ll find you a real shipwright, the best in the world, we’ll be super careful…” Offered Usopp.

“It can’t be fixed. The keel is the core of a ship. It’s the one thing that can’t be replaced. I’m going to die soon.” She repeated, and Usopp sobbed. “But before that, I’ll make sure that you’re somewhere safe.” A determination that rivaled Luffy’s could be heard in her voice.

Usopp looked away, no longer able to face her, and turned tears filled, desperate eyes to Drake.

“I’m sorry.” Repeated Drake, a grimace of pain deforming his face.

Usopp just… Folded on himself. He stayed for a few seconds immobile, shoulders hunched, arms tightly wound around his middle in some sort of makeshift hug, before one hand came to his face and he angrily wiped his tears away.

“Can I help you ? Fix yourself ? At least for now…” He begged, voice breaking toward the end.

“I can do it alone.” Answered Merry, and her smile was big once again on her face. “You need to sleep. You still have adventures in front of you, and I want you all to come back to me in one piece.”

“Thank you Merry.” Murmured Drake, one of his hands lightly grabbing Usopp’s shoulder and taking him away, the sniper unable to move on his own. “I’m glad I’ve met you.” He added.

“I’m glad I’ve been able to sail so far with all of you.” Answered Merry.

~~One Piece~~

Luffy woke up to the smell of food, his stretched hand grabbing a piece of meat from the fire before he was truly awake.

“Wait for it to be cooked before starting to eat, shitty captain !” Complained Sanji.

“Shishishi.” Laughed Luffy, jumping to his feet and stretching his arms high above his head. “Hi Zoro !” He greeted when he saw the barely awake swordsman sitting against a tree, having taken the watch over from Robin.

“Luffy.” He grumbled back.

“Did you all sleep alright ?” Asked Nami as she got out of the temporary tent they had created to give her and Robin more privacy.

“Sure did.” Grinned Luffy.

He turned to check on the rest of his friends, slowing down when he saw Usopp. Nami went to stand next to him and followed his gaze, frowning when she saw the sniper.

“Usopp ?” She asked.

Usopp tilted his head to the side to show that he was listening to her, not moving from his position, curled on himself away from the rest of the crew.

“Are you okay ?” By now everyone had noticed that something was going on from the tone of her voice, and had turned to look at their sniper.

“Not really…” He answered, voice hoarse. Nami’s eyes caught Sanji’s across the clearing, both looking disbelieving at each other at the fact that he hadn’t even attempted to lie.

“Did something happen ?” She continued, cautiously walking toward him.

“We… Learned something, last night.” Answered Drake. She turned to look at him, and became even more concerned. He looked tired, like he had barely slept at all, but she knew that he had relaxed back the previous night while they partied, and had gone to sleep just like them. “I think Usopp is the one that should tell you.” He added, and she turned back to the sniper. And had to swallow a gasp when Usopp finally looked up.

He, too, looked like he hadn’t slept at all, except that his eyes were rimmed red as if he had spent his night crying.

“Usopp ?” Chopper asked, trotting toward his friend and resting a hoof against his leg.

“It’s about Merry.” He started to explain. “We saw her Klabautermann last night.” He stumbled slightly over the unfamiliar word. Robin gasped almost silently as she recognized the name, and the legends associated with it. “It’s basically her spirit, but… It only appears when a ship is dying.”

“Oh no.” Murmured Nami.

Chopper had frozen in place, looking horrified.

“Is it…” He couldn’t finish his sentence.

“No, Chopper.” Usopp managed a reassuring smile at him. “She told us that the knock-up stream was too much. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

It was no one’s fault, really. He had a few hours to think about it, and he had determined that much. He had done his best to fix her, but it had been hardship after hardship, and they hadn’t all come from the crew or their enemies. Passing through Reverse Mountain, from the freezing waters of Drum to the hot waters of Alabasta, and then taking a knock-up stream… It couldn’t have been good for her, and he wasn’t sure anything could have been done to limit the damage.

“Did she tell you what we can do to help ?” Asked Luffy seriously.

“She told me it wasn’t fixable.” He swallowed, forced his voice not to falter. “That she wanted to take up somewhere safe, before… leaving us.”

“She can’t leave. She’s nakama. We’re not leaving her behind.” Protested Luffy.

“Luffy…” Trailed off Nami.

Luffy’s brow furrowed as his eyes locked onto Usopp for a few silent seconds, before his shoulder slumped. He knew Usopp wouldn’t even have contemplated the idea if he wasn’t sure Merry was unfixable, and he didn’t want to hurt him by protesting. They wouldn’t leave her without making sure that there was nothing that could be done, he swore to himself.

“We’re going to get as much gold as we can here.” He declared out loud. “And when we’re back on the sea, we’ll find the best shipwright in the world, and they’ll either fix Merry or we’ll buy a ship worthy of her.”

“I’m so sorry.” Murmured Nami as she finally gave up and fell to her knee next to Usopp, bringing him into a hug.

“ ‘twas a gift from Kaya.” He answered in the same tone, voice choked up as he clung to her shoulders.

“I know, shh, I know…”

~~One Piece~~

In the end, they had decided to spread into two groups. The first one, consisting of Luffy, Zoro, Robin, and Chopper, had for mission to try to find the gold and bring it back to the Merry. Robin was the one most likely to find the ruins, Luffy and Zoro were here to carry it, and to cut it into manageable pieces if needed for Zoro. Luffy had asked Chopper if he wanted to come with them, and the reindeer had instantly agreed, not wanting to be left in charge of protecting Merry a second time.

The other group, consisting of Sanji, Usopp, Drake, Nami, an injured and still sleeping Gan Fall, as well as his weird horse, were supposed to take the Merry out of the Upper Yard and find a way to leave the island quickly once the gold had been stolen.

Nami had hesitated in going with Luffy’s team, because they were supposed to find gold, but in the end she decided that she could trust Robin enough to bring the important treasures back, and she didn’t want to leave Merry in anyone’s hands but hers. Not after what they had just learned. From now on, she was determined to make sure that Merry wouldn’t get hurt anymore, and they needed her for that. So she would ensure to be there as needed.

Chapter Text

Nami had hesitated in going with Luffy’s team, because they were supposed to find gold, but in the end she decided that she could trust Robin enough to bring the important treasures back, and she didn’t want to leave Merry in anyone’s hands but hers. Not after what they had just learned. From now on, she was determined to make sure that Merry wouldn’t get hurt anymore, and they needed her for that. So she would ensure to be there as needed.

“Ah, you’re awake.” Said Nami, smiling as Gan Fall stumbled out onto Merry's deck. “How are you feeling ?”

“I’m fine.” He answered, looking around curiously. “Where is the small creature that used the whistle to call me ?”

“Chopper ? He’s with the rest of our crew. You really helped him, from what I’ve heard.”

“I was only answering his call.” He dismissed her thanks easily.

“You live here, right ?” He had ran away too quickly for her to ask the question she wanted the last time they had met. She needed to learn more about this island, now that they had been attacked and that there were talks of sacrifices, forbidden sacred land, and that the golden city they were looking for had every chance of being on said sacred land.

“Yes, I am Skypiean.” He confirmed.

“We didn’t really have the time to talk when we first met, but I have a few questions for you. Can you tell me more about this island ? I admit that I didn’t expect to be attacked by guys holding bazookas, or to discover that most of the inhabitants look like angels.”

“I apologize for the Shandian who attacked you. You aren’t part of the conflicts he has with my people, but their bitterness toward the Skypieans has carried over to the Blue Sea dwellers.”

“Shandian ?” Asked Drake, coming to sit next to them.

Gan Fall looked at him in surprise.

“We came using the knock-up stream, we don’t know anything about your lives here.” Nami reminded him.

“That’s true. I’m not sure how relevant it would be to explain the history of my people and the lengthy conflicts that the Shandians and the Skypieans share.”

“We don’t have anything better to do, right now.” Said Nami. She wouldn’t let him dodge the question that easily.

“Very well. It started hundreds of years ago, when the Upper Yard appeared suddenly in the sky. You have to understand, Vearth is very rare here and sacred. The God at the time decided that the whole Upper Yard was sacred ground, with only God and his chosen being allowed to set foot on it. The Shandians, who lived there, were chased out of their own territory, and each God has resided there since.”

“God.” Interrupted Nami before he could continue. “What does that title mean ?” Given the casual way he was mentioning them, and implying that various gods had succeeded each other, she guessed that the word didn’t have the same meaning here that it had down in the Blue Sea.

“It is the Skypieans’ ruler name.” He explained simply. “The current God is Enel. He came from another sky island, but no one knows which.” There were rumors that he had destroyed his island before leaving for Skypiea, but no one had ever been able to confirm anything. “He came with his priest and easily defeated the previous God, taking control of the Divine Squad and the White Berets. He is somehow able to hear everything that happens on the main island, and can and has smitten down people from afar.”

“He could just…” Asked Usopp.

“Yes. There is rarely any warning before Enel attacks someone, and he could simply smite you where you are, without you ever seeing him.”

Sanji and Drake shared a grim look. They weren’t safe on the Merry, but the rest of the crew was in even more danger, trying to explore the Upper Yard and steal as much gold as they could, something that would surely anger Enel. They had seen how much damage it could do, Conis being saved at the last second only thanks to Gan Fall's timely intervention.

“Since they have been chased, the Shandians have been trying to take back their land.” Continued to explain Gan Fall. “Most Skypieans, however, are against giving it back to them, because even if they aren’t allowed on the Upper Yard it is still sacred land. The previous God was trying to broker peace and reach an agreement with the Shandians, but before he could make any progress Enel came. They have fallen back to their guerilla tactics, in an attempt to take the island by force.”

“So they’d attack us because they’re at war against the Skypieans ?” Asked Usopp. “Or, Luffy and the others ?”

“Most probably.” Answered Gan Fall. “They don’t take kindly to anyone trying to appropriate what had once been theirs, and while we don’t often get visitors from the Blue Sea, the few who manage to reach us are more often than not pirates, who try to pillage and ransack the island in search of riches.” Usopp winced at that, since they were trying to do the exact same. “The White Berets are tasked with protecting the Skypieans, but their protection doesn’t extend to the Shandians, who have to face the threats by themselves. That’s why they will almost always try to kill everyone in their path, be they Skypieans or Blue Sea dwellers.”

~~One Piece~~

After that -slightly worrying- discussion, they went back to their respective tasks. Usopp was obsessively checking on Merry’s damage and the Klabautermann’s repairs, Nami was directing them with Sanji more than happy to follow her every command, and Drake was watching out for threats coming from the jungle around them. Gan Fall had gone back inside to check on Pierre, his bird, who had been injured as well while protecting Merry and Chopper.

Since there was a risk of the Merry getting hijacked once again by some giant shrimp, or someone jumping from behind a tree to try to kill them for simply being here, Drake was focusing hard on his haki and his instincts to prevent anyone from sneaking up on him.

It was only for that reason that when his haki screamed at him to move, he didn’t hesitate even for a moment and jumped back, crashing into Usopp who was the closest to him and tackling him to the ground. Barely a fraction of a second later, a lightning bolt struck down the deck close to where he had been standing. He rolled to the side, crouched low and ready to spring to his feet at the first sign of danger.

Usopp seemed dazed at his feet, blinking furiously, both against the sudden flash of the lightning bolt/ and the fact that he had crashed hard against the deck. A quick check told Drake that Gan Fall was luckily still inside. The old man seemed to be a good fighter, but he had been injured very recently, and he didn’t think he would have been able to react fast enough to avoid getting hit. Sanji...

Sanji had thrown himself on top of Nami, bringing the two of them out of the impact zone.

How did he react fast enough to- he started to wonder, before a second flash of light, shorter and less violent, blinded him.

This one hadn’t been an attack. A man had appeared in the middle of the deck, which had been empty only a second before. Sanji jumped to his feet, putting himself between Nami and the newcomer.

“What do you bastard think you are do-” He started to shout. The newcomer lazily raised a hand, pointing one finger toward Sanji. Lightning shot out of it and hit Sanji dead on, his mouth opening on a silent scream as he seized.

“Sanji-kun !”

Nami watched with horror as Sanji slowly fell to the ground, unconscious. Usopp scrambled back, eyes open wide in fear, instinctively backing off as far as he could.

Drake leaped forward with a burst of speed, drawing his sword in the same breath. The man moved his head back, just enough to avoid getting hit, but Drake had been expecting it after his battle against the priest the previous day, and adjusted his strike, leaving behind a trail of blood on his cheek. He had no doubt that the cut would be healed in barely a few minutes, but right now, if what he suspected was right, he would take every victory he could, no matter how small.

The man’s eyes widened in surprise, a hand coming up to touch his cheek.

“Not used to being hit ?” Asked Drake. “That’s the trouble with you logias, you grow complacent.” He could see from the corner of his eyes that Nami had gotten closer to Sanji, kneeling protectively in front of him, her hand fisted into his shirt. “The Goro Goro no Mi, type logia. One of the strongest devil fruits out there, that supposedly makes its user all-powerful.”

“That’s right. I am Enel, the all-knowing, invincible God.” He spread his arms wide to the side, showing off. “I have heard of the existence of some metal that could bypass my natural defenses, but I’ve never seen it being used before.”

Drake kept silent. Despite knowing observation haki, it seemed that Enel wasn’t aware of the existence of armament. It gave him an advantage. People might try to go for his weapons, thinking that they were made of sea stone and that he would be defenseless without them. However he didn’t think it would be enough to make him win against Enel, at least not on his own. The Goro Goro no Mi had its reputation for a reason.

Even amongst the logias, who tended to make their user far more powerful than most, it was one of the strongest. Few people would be able to oppose its owner if they knew what they were doing. He didn’t know how strong Enel was, but he had taken over the sky island years ago despite its strong fighters and he had to have a certain degree of mastery over his powers.

People liked to say that the reason most logias met a quick death when they entered the New World was because they had grown complacent, but reality was, there was almost no one in the first part of the Grand Line that was strong enough to challenge them, and they were unable to grow stronger unless they didn’t use their powers. The first time they were faced with someone stronger than them, they no longer were expecting it.

Drake knew how to fight logias. He had proved it years ago by defeating Smoker back when they were both training in Marineford. Sadly, the knowledge of armament and observation haki was useless when your opponent was so much faster than you. He had been able to avoid the first lightning bolt only because he had been anticipating an attack and Enel wasn’t expecting him to dodge, but he had no doubt that should Enel attack him right now, he wouldn’t be fast enough to do it a second time.

“I don’t like people who think they can stand up to me.” Continued Enel. He clasped his hand together with a resonating thud, before starting to spread them out, showing the electricity amassing between them.

I’ve never been able to cover myself entirely in haki, but now would be a good time to succeed. Despite his best effort, his haki only spread over his torso before the attack tore through him.

“20 Million Volt Bari”

Enel appeared at his side, his arms wide open, and the electricity coursing through his body was the last thing he felt.

~~One Piece~~

Nami didn’t think that she had ever been more terrified in her life. As Enel rested bored eyes first on Usopp, then on her, her hand fisted tighter in Sanji’s shirt. She was painfully afraid of how outclassed she was, and freezing in place and trying to appear as uninteresting as possible seemed to be the only thing her brain could think of.

After a few long seconds, he looked away to focus back on the door toward the inside of the Merry.

“Former god Gan Fall.” He greeted, a sarcastic smile on his lips. “It’s been six years that I last saw you, and yet…” His eyes went down to look at the bandage covering Gan Fall’s torso. “You’re still just as weak.”

“What do you want.” Said Gan Fall flatly, his hand clenching on his spear.

“I guess I just wanted to say goodbye to you. We’ll never see each other again, after all.”

“What does that mean ?”

“I have no more need of this island.” He smirked, and with a flash of light, disappeared as Gan Fall shouted to him to elaborate.

“Drake !” Yelled Usopp, finding his voice again now that Enel was gone. He stumbled to his feet as he ran toward where his crewmate had fallen on the floor. “He’s still alive.” He sighed in relief as he felt Drake’s chest rising under his hand.

“Sanji as well.” Said Nami.

“Are they going to be ok ? Of all time for us to get attacked, it had to be when Chopper isn’t here…”

“I know a bit about getting hit by lightning.” Said Nami. She had asked Chopper about it recently because she didn’t want to overestimate how much damage her clima-tact did and get in trouble. At the time, she hadn’t cared much for the side effect, but now she got a new appreciation of how dangerous Usopp’s weapon made her. “We’ll need to watch their heart rate. Since they’re okay now, they won’t go into cardiac arrest, but they can have irregular heartbeats for a time.” She didn’t need to tell him how dangerous that could be. Especially for Drake and Sanji, who were both fighters. They couldn’t risk them falling unconscious because their heart wasn’t able to follow the adrenaline hit a fight could induce. “Uh, we also need to watch out for burns, they’re supposed to be where the electricity hit.”

Usopp was suddenly glad for Drake’s habit to only wear an open leather shirt and leave his chest free. He wasn’t sure how he would have been able to check if he had to remove his clothes, given that the man was a dead weight right now, and heavier than what he could reasonably carry. He didn’t really want to roll him on the ground.

“I can see slight burn marks, but nothing too grave.”

“Me as well, I don’t think it’s dangerous for them.” Said Nami with a sigh of relief.

Usopp distantly noted that the chef would get really happy if he ever learned Nami had unbuttoned his shirt, and made a mental note to tell him about it the next time they hit a rough patch. “I’m not quite sure what we’re supposed to do with them now.” He said out loud.

“We should… Get them to the infirmary, I guess.”

“Let me help you.” Said Gan Fall, coming to stand next to Usopp. “It is my fault Enel came here and your friend got wounded, it’s the least I could do.”

“I mean… The only reason you’re here in the first place is that you got hurt protecting Chopper. We’re not holding Enel's behavior against you.” Reassured him Nami.

“We should start by moving Sanji.” Determined Usopp. He had no doubt that he and Nami would have been strong enough to move him together, but they would definitely need Gan Fall's help to lift Drake. Without him here, they would have resigned themselves to dragging him on the floor until they reached the infirmary.

“Ohh ohh, we’re not letting you leave !”
“Not after what you did to our brother ohh ohh !”

Usopp pointed his pachinko at the two newcomers, who were spinning on top of the railing.

“What is this now ?” Asked Nami, getting frustrated by the interruptions.

“They look like the man we defeated earlier.” Whispered Usopp.

“I’ve never seen your brother in my life.” Called out truthfully Nami.

“Don’t lie-”
“We know he’s been defeated-”
“By a bunch of Blue Sea dwellers-”
“And you’re the only ones here right now-”
“Ohh ohh !”

“They’re somehow even more annoying than the first one.” Deadpanned Usopp.

“I am Hotori, ohh ohh.”
“And I Kotori, and Satori was our brother !”

“And to say that I thought your dad didn't have much imagination when naming you…” Ignoring Usopp’s insulted hey!, Nami grabbed her clima-tact and pointed it at the two intruders. “I don’t care who you or your brother are, if you try to attack us I’ll beat you up.” She stated resolutely.

“Your defeat of Satori was only a fluke-”
“We’re the one who will defeat you, ohh ohh-
“And Enel will have to promote us to priest !”

Nami didn’t wait for them to attack, she twirled her clima-tact above her head, bringing it against one of the brothers like a staff. He didn’t bother avoiding it, only blocked the hit with his hand.

“You have one of those as well, uh.” Said Usopp, firing a projectile at the other brother. Instead of dodging or repelling it, he pointed one of his hands forward and a flame shooted out of it, destroying Usopp’s pellet.

“That’s a flame dial.” Informed them Gan Fall, pointing his spear at the two. “And the other was an impact dial.” He added, as if it explained everything. At least Usopp had already seen the impact dial in action and recounted the fight to the others, and it wasn’t hard to guess what the flame dial did.

“Okay, let’s just assume they have haki, one can repel direct hits and the other projectiles… Usopp, let’s switch.” Nami ordered. With her illusions mostly useless she was far weaker than she could be, but against an opponent fighting with flames she still had her other weather manipulations techniques that could work.

“Cool Ball”. She called out, producing small pockets of cold air out of her clima-tact. She needed to humidify the air enough that the flames produced by her opponent would peter out. Without his weapon, she would only need to find a way to hit him to defeat him. Drake -and Sanji, she reminded herself, remembering how he had reacted to protect her far too quickly for it to be natural- had shown that it was possible to avoid lightning strikes, and her Thunderbolt Tempo was her strongest attack. Maybe she could make it that the lightning struck randomly, so he wouldn’t be able to predict it… “Heat Ball.” She added, pointing the heat pole toward the river to make the water evaporate.

“How dare you mock our brother like that !” Shouted her opponent.

“Uh- what ?” She asked, dumbfounded. She saw Usopp, Gan Fall and… Kotori ? -they looked far too much like each other, and remembering their name hadn’t been one of her priorities- stop fighting as well, surprised by the shout.

“You dare mock the ordeal of balls’ creator by imitating his attacks.” He pointed a hand toward her, and she took a step back quickly, not wanting to get roasted.

“These are my attacks-” She started to protest, but he didn’t let her finish, launching his attack. She tried to sidestep it, wanting to stall long enough for the humidity level to get high enough to prevent the flame dial from working, except that it wasn’t a flame that shot out of his hand, but a burst of compressed air. She cried out in pain as it hit her arm, the attack continuing and hitting the wall of their storage room, cutting through it and disappearing in the forest.

“Oh my god will you guys stop hurting Merry !” Exclaimed Usopp.

“Don’t call for god.” Protested Nami, even as her eyes narrowed in anger at the damage. She was here because she wanted to prevent Merry from getting even more hurt, and she was already failing. She glanced down at her arm, seeing that it had only been grazed.

“You’re lucky to have avoided it. My axe dial is strong enough to cut through steel.”

Okay, she hadn’t expected the second dial. And this one seemed worse than the impact one, so…

“Usopp, switch ?”

“Dream on.”

“Even an axe dial won’t be enough to destroy my spear.” Declared Gan Fall, abandoning his fight with Kotori to join her.

“Sure, you fight him.” She agreed. The air should be humid enough, what with the cold balls transforming the steam back into small droplets of water. “His flame dial should be unusable.” She told him in a low voice. He nodded in understanding, and she ran back to join Usopp.

“Ohh ohh, I will be able to defeat the two of you at the same time !” Said Kotori, pointing his hand toward them. Not knowing what type of attack he had stored inside his impact dial, Nami tensed up.

Except that once again, it wasn’t an attack they had anticipated that happened. Instead, an awful smell started to surround them, the air almost turning green.

“Ugh-” Usopp and Nami stopped breathing, clutching at their noses in disgust.

“With my fart filled flavor dial, I am able to-”

Nami’s clima-tact hit him on the head as he was distracted by his boasting, shutting him up for a second. She quickly twirled the three parts between her hands, producing a gust of wind that removed the scent.

“Honestly, I know me and Usopp sometimes have the weirdest fighting techniques, but that right now is just disgusting.” She scowled at him.

“Ohh ohh, you will regret hitting me-” He started to shout angrily, shutting up suddenly as Usopp shot a projectile into his mouth. He turned red, smoke shooting out of his ears as he swallowed the tobacco filled pellet.

“Ah, eat that !”

Nami didn’t hesitate a second longer, her clima tact hitting the Kotori repeatedly on the head until he wasn’t moving anymore. As one, she and Usopp turned to face the second brother.

“Hey, meatball !” Called out Usopp.

Hotori turned to face him, and Gan Fall used the opening to hit him with his spear. He staggered a few steps before recovering his balance and pointing one arm toward Nami and Usopp, the other toward Gan Fall. With an eep of panic, Nami and Usopp both threw themselves on the ground, barely avoiding getting hit by the axe dial’s attack. Gan Fall, however, didn’t have to dodge, as the flame dial only spluttered with barely a spark.

“What ?”

“Today’s weather is cloudy but warm. Be careful of the high humidity when trying to light up a flame.” Told him Nami with a smile, just as Gan Fall’s hit him for a second time, hard enough to push him off the boat.

Usopp sighed in relief at the sudden calm. He lightly poked the unconscious body at his feet, but it seemed like he wouldn’t wake up soon. They would need to drop him off Merry too at one point, or they would risk him waking up and taking them by surprise.

Speaking of moving bodies… Neither Drake nor Sanji seemed to have been hurt during the fight. It seemed like the two brothers had gotten too distracted to think of attacking their vulnerable crew members.

“Sooo… Infirmary ?” Asked Nami.

Chapter Text

The first thing Drake did when he came back to consciousness was to groan in pain. He felt like his whole body was too sensitive, sending him mixed signals that everything was fine but that everything hurt at the same time.

He forced himself to rise to a sitting position and quickly recognized the infirmary around him. Someone had bandaged his torso—not Chopper, it wasn’t tight enough and it wouldn’t be a mistake their doctor would make—and he could smell the faint odor of medicine surrounding him.

One glance to the side showed that Sanji was in the same state, a bandage holding a compress in place against his torso.

The reason for them to be in the infirmary suddenly came back to him, and he grimaced. That had been bad. Enel had defeated them all too easily, he hadn’t even had the time to put up a fight. They had left Usopp and Nami alone to survive on their own.

Given that they had been moved from the deck to the infirmary, it seemed like they hadn’t been hurt by Enel. Hopefully, he had just left after defeating both him and Sanji.

“Oi, Sanji.” He called out, turning in the bed so his feet touched the ground. He checked quickly that his body didn’t seem to have any problem holding him while sitting before he pushed himself off the bed. His first step almost sent him crashing down, but he quickly found his footing once again.

‘No nausea, no difficulty breathing… I have no idea what the symptoms are for getting electrocuted… Ah, burns, that’d explain the bandages.’

“Sanji.” He repeated at a higher volume. There was a risk that he would wake up fighting if he tried to shake him awake, and he didn’t want either of them to get hurt.

“You’re up!” Came Usopp's relieved voice as he barged into the infirmary, a blonde woman—Conis, he realized belatedly—following.

“Heso.” She smiled hesitantly at him.

“I can hear a beautiful woman calling for me.” Gasped awake Sanji.

“You’re a dumbass.” Said Drake, patting him on the head fondly. “Is everyone alright? Nami?”

“Nami’s fine. She left not too long ago, we met one of the Shandians who are trying to stop Enel from wiping out the island, and there was this-”

“What?” Drake cut him off.

“Ah, you weren’t here for that… Conis heard from her father who heard it from one of the inhabitants who heard it from one of the White Berets who heard it from one of the priests while he was fighting a Shandian, that Enel plans to wipe out the entire island by making it fall into our sea, and then he wants to escape into his flying ship, the…”

“Ark Maxima.” Added Conis helpfully.

“Yeah, that.”

“And what happened to Nami?” Asked Sanji.

“So, Conis came here to explain everything to us, then a Shandian arrived looking for Enel, and there was this little girl, Aisa, trying to follow him. She stole our waver, so Nami went to stop her, they disappeared in the forest and hadn’t been back since. Gan Fall also left at one point to stop Enel.”

“We can’t leave Nami alone in the forest.” Sanji protested instantly.

“I couldn’t leave you both vulnerable to chase after her.” Countered Usopp.

“Somehow, the imminent destruction of the island seems to be the biggest problem.” Said Drake.

“Not when it comes to Nami-san.” Said Sanji seriously.

“Listen, we have no idea where she is, and if the island gets destroyed, everyone on it will die, including Nami and Robin. Now that we’re awake, we need to find a way to prevent this from happening.”

“You can’t try to fight Enel again.” Said Usopp sharply.

“You got beaten up as well, uh.” Muttered Sanji, finally noticing that Drake was bandaged as well. Drake only shrugged in answer.

“If the guy tries to escape aboard a flying boat, then let’s just destroy it. He won’t destroy the island if he’s on it as well.” He reasoned.

“Well, you do that, and I’ll try to find a way for us to get out of this island safely…”

“Usopp, you’re the one with all the gadgets. If we need to get up on a flying ship, we’ll need you there.”

“But what about Merry?”

Drake sighed, turning toward Conis. “Can you… Do you know if there is a safe place for you? Even if you need to leave Merry behind.” She had almost been killed the last time they had seen her, so he wasn’t sure how safe she was here.

She shook her head negatively. “There is nowhere to escape… And I don’t want to, not after you kept being nice to me despite my treachery.”

Drake swallowed back the retort that her supposed treachery wasn’t that much, given that Enel seemed to be able to keep track of everything, attack and teleport everywhere on the island. “You’ll be stuck here, one person isn’t enough to move a ship that size if you don’t know what you’re doing.” And given that all the boats they had seen so far were at least thrice as small, he would bet that she didn’t have any experience.

“I’m not alone, my father is here as well. And Sue.” She added, holding her fox up as if to prove a point. “I want to do that for you.”

“Alright.” He sighed, not wanting to spend too much time arguing with her. “Just, stay safe, okay?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

“So, any idea where that flying ship is?” Asked Sanji, as they reached the deck, looking at their surroundings.

“If it’s already flying, then it's hidden by those clouds and we need to get to a higher level, but if it’s still on the ground… I honestly have no idea.” Admitted Usopp.

“We should go…” Drake turned slowly on himself. Now that he had faced Enel, he could recognize his presence, and it seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once because of his powers saturating the air around them. “This direction.” He pointed haphazardly. It was where the biggest concentration of presence was, which he hoped either meant that Enel was there right now, or that he spent a lot of time there.

Usopp frowned at how unsure he sounded, but he didn’t have any better direction to suggest.

~~One Piece~~

It seemed like Drake had made the right decision, as they reached a gold-covered ship. It looked like the kind of ship a mad man would use while annihilating a whole country.

“How are we supposed to prevent something like that from flying? How is it even supposed to fly?” Wondered Sanji.

“We’ll have to destroy everything that looks remotely important and then run away.” Said Usopp.

“Come on.” Muttered Drake, on hand grabbing onto the ship’s hull. There didn’t seem to be a ladder or any way for normal people to climb it up, but given that Enel was able to teleport, it wasn’t that surprising. He and Sanji climbed by hand, Usopp using hooks to rise alongside them.

“If Enel plans to leave on his own, there won’t be much stored in the hull, so the engines that allow him to fly might be down there… Or in that weirdly shaped, golden cabin.” Analyzed Usopp.

“Let’s start with the cabin.” Decided Sanji. They had barely reached the inside of the ship when a loud crash resonated outside. They shared worried looks, recognizing it as the sound of lightning, which couldn't mean anything good.

“So, this is your flying ship?” Asked a nervous voice they all immediately recognized.

“Shit.” Muttered Drake as he threw himself over Sanji, one hand covering his mouth and the other restraining his shoulders, their legs tangling together. Sanji struggled for a few seconds before he settled for glaring at Usopp, who was in his line of sight and was watching them wide-eyed.

“We need to sabotage this ship before it starts to rise with us and Nami onboard.” Drake hissed.

Sanji tried to bite his hand, grimacing as he only tasted leather.

“She’s not in immediate danger right now, and we can’t go to her and put her life at risk.” He insisted. Sanji calmed down slightly, listening to Enel and Nami talking. The stress she was under could clearly be heard in his voice, but right now they were polite to each other.

“Okay?” Asked Drake, slowly releasing him.

“If she gets hurt because we’re not here to help her right now…” Threatened Sanji in a hiss, glaring at Drake.

“Let’s act as quickly as we can. As soon as we’re sure the ship isn’t going up, we’ll go and get her out, alright?” She was safer while they stayed out of view than if they tried to rush outside, true, but she wasn't safe. And honestly, he didn't want anyone to stay close to Enel for any length of time. The man planned to destroy his own island, there was no knowing what would make him snap.

“Let’s spread out.” Ordered Sanji, voice making it clear that they better not start to argue. “I don't want to waste even one second in destroying this thing.”

“Isn’t he just going to sense us down there and attack us before we can’t do anything?” Asked Usopp, having relaxed slightly as he saw that no argument was breaking out.

“At least he’ll only get one of us at once. If he hasn't sensed us yet for some reason, we need to take advantage of it.” Answered Drake. He didn't doubt that there were many fights happening at the same time, with the Shandians trying to prevent the destruction of their home, and if Enel's haki covered the whole island maybe he hadn't focused on what was happening mere meters away from him.

~~One Piece~~

Sanji had ran toward the deepest part of the ship, since as the quickest of them all he had a better chance of finding, and destroying quickly, something important. Usopp had stopped at the first mechanist he had seen and started to tinker with it, muttering under his breath as he tried to understand how it worked. Destroying everything without thought just couldn’t be done, not without attracting Enel’s attention and probably dying in the process. They needed to be smart about it, and if just cutting off a wire or two would be enough to prevent this ship from rising, he was all for it. The systems might not look like anything he could recognize, what with it being constituted solely of gold, but it had to work like a circuit of some sort, with energy entering from somewhere to feed the mechanisms that would make them fly. He just had to find where this energy came from and cut it off from the rest of the system.

An impact shook the ship, and he barely swallowed his yelp. “What’s that?'' He asked in a whisper-shout. He no longer could see Drake, and for a second he feared that he had left him alone in this room, the closest to the deck where Enel was.

“Luffy just arrived,” Drake told him, making him startle as he appeared just behind him. “I just disconnected part of the right side of the room from the rest… Hopefully it will prevent us from rising.”

As if to answer him, the whole ship started to groan around them. Usopp yelped as the gold he was holding suddenly started to heat up. “It’s still working !” He hissed hysterically. “He’s… go-” He remembered at the last moment not to say god and corrected himself. “Fuck, he’s powering it with his own powers, the electricity comes from everywhere, goes into those cylinders...” He trailed off as he started to move around the room, examining how the energy was distributed.

“You finish destroying that thing, alright?” Ordered Drake, his gaze resting on the door leading to the deck.

“Ah—yes.” He answered. “Please take care.” He added worriedly. Given how much Drake had insisted they bring this ship down, him suddenly wanting to leave and go on the deck only meant that something bad was going on, either with Luffy or Nami. He forced himself to focus back on his task, the quicker he destroyed this thing, the less danger they would be in.

(He knew it wasn’t true. It would give the inhabitants and hopefully the members of the crew who were not here more time to evacuate this island, but if they managed to bring the Ark down, Enel’s anger would turn toward them and there was no surviving that.)

Drake opened the door slightly and peered out of it, confirming what his haki was telling him. Luffy seemed to hold his own against Enel, somehow, but Nami was huddled behind one of the gigantic cogs that decorated the deck, one hand covering her mouth to prevent herself from shouting. Given the burn marks surrounding her, it seemed like Enel didn’t care much for collateral damage, and it wouldn’t be long before one of the lightning bolts hit her.

“First you think you can oppose me, and now my Ark Maxim isn’t working correctly… It is supposed to produce twice as many of those thunder clouds which will destroy the island. I don’t like how you think you can come here and somehow face me, a God, as if I was your equal.” Raved Enel.

‘At least it means that our sabotage really is doing something.’

“It seems like I'll have rats to eradicate once I’m done with you.” Continued Enel, glancing toward the door Drake was hiding behind.

‘Shit.’

Enel’s comment as well as the short respite in his attacks had made Nami raise her head and she noticed him as well. Drake? She mouthed in surprise.

Drake quickly gestured, twirling his fingers above his eyes and then imitating Usopp’s nose, before pointing toward the inside of the ship. Nami nodded in understanding, relief and fear both showing in her eyes as she learned that she wasn’t alone.

She hesitated for a moment as she thought, then mimed walking and jumping off, and then made a wave with her hand.

Drake frowned at her. The first part meant that she either wanted or could get off the ship, but he didn’t know what the second part represented. Seeming to understand that, she repeated the sign, mouthing at the same time Waver. A lightning bolt struck the floor next to her, making them both jump in surprise, not having noticed that the fight had restarted. She couldn’t risk staying there any longer, but the railing was meters away from her, and he couldn’t see where her waver was. There was no doubt that Enel would smite her as soon as he saw her moving. Even if he was right now happy to focus on Luffy, it didn’t mean that he couldn't turn against any of them in barely a second.

Especially if Usopp and Sanji managed to stop entirely the production of the ominous black clouds and made them fall back toward the island.

He decided to get out of the room, grabbing the handle of his axe from his hips and letting it fall against the floor. He couldn’t risk the iron acting as a conductor and attracting the lightning to him. If he managed to dodge one of Enel's attacks, it would be by the skin of his teeth, and it would be stupid if his own weapon ensured he would be stuck regardless. His sword didn’t have the same problem if it stayed sheathed, and he kept it on his hip, not wanting to be weaponless. Enel glanced back at him when he got out, and raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t have enough?”

“Drake!” Exclaimed Luffy, surprised to see him. He frowned at the bandage on his torso, but ignored them and focused back on Enel.

“You blue-sea dwellers don’t know when to quit. You are trying to face your betters, you will never be able to win.” He sighed at them, feigning disappointment.

“I don’t know, that’s twice one of us ‘blue-sea dwellers’ is able to hurt you. You’d think you would learn not to underestimate us.” He could see from the corner of his eyes that Nami had left her hiding place and was quickly getting closer to the waver. Enel, angled to see both him and Luffy at the same time, was turning his back to her.

“El Thor” The only warning of the upcoming attack was Enel's raised hand, but it was enough for Drake who rolled to the side, skidding on the floor as he regained his equilibrium. It seemed that when the attack came from further away, he was able to avoid them, but Enel only needed to attack him at point-blank range once again and it would be over for him.

Luffy didn’t waste a second, his fist crashing into Enel’s face, hard enough that he staggered back a few steps. He followed his attack by a “Gomu Gomu no Bazooka”, driving Enel into a wall. Drake saw the opening to strike but stayed away, not wanting to risk getting too close and risk getting attacked first. Logia were naturally resistant, and one lone hit wouldn’t make a difference in the fight. He was only there to make sure Enel was properly distracted anyway. He'd leave the defeating to the one person on this island who was actually immune to lightning.

The god disappeared in a flash, reappearing next to Drake. He twirled on himself, a Haki-covered fist snapping out and catching Enel in the jaw just as he released his attack. His teeth clenched at the pain, his muscles twitching against the strong electrical current, and he fell to his knees.

‘This is bad.’

Just as he had thought, Enel’s attacks weren’t avoidable at close range, and they hurt. His vision blackened for a second, and he felt a strange pressure grow in his chest, but he forced himself to ignore it. Chopper would make sure there wasn’t anything wrong with him later, but right now he needed to get back on his feet and prepare to dodge if another lightning bolt came his way.

He managed to get up to see Enel avoid a flurry of quick attacks coming from Luffy.

“I’m just going to defeat all those weaklings first, so I can focus on you.” Decided Enel. “First the one who thought she could deceive me, despite the opportunity I offered her, then the one who tried to face me despite having already been defeated once, and then those two rats skittering inside my Ark Maxim. And I’ll end up with you.” He declared, pointing his staff toward Luffy. “After you’ve seen your friends dying, you’ll die by my hand as well.”

“I’ve seen what you already did to my friends.” Answered Luffy seriously. “I’m not letting you harm anyone else now that I’m here to defeat you.”

“You can’t impose your will on God. Watch how quickly they can be dispatched!”

He pointed his hand toward Nami without looking, a smile on his face.

“El…”

“Stop!” Shouted Luffy, running toward him.

“Thor!” He finished, releasing a bolt of lightning straight toward her.

And Drake knew, in that instant, that she wouldn't survive it. He had felt how strong was the attack when he had dodged earlier, stronger than the ones who had defeated him and Sanji in one hit, and their bodies were far more resistant than Nami's.

He wouldn't let her die on his watch.

Nami couldn’t even close her eyes as the lightning bolt came straight to her, her muscles clenching down as she anticipated the pain, preventing her from moving in a last desperate attempt to dodge that would indubitably fail. She could only watch as it came so close it filled her entire field of view.

She could only watch as it diverted right in front of her.

Her gaze instinctively followed it, meeting Drake’s eyes as the bolt struck the few inches of his sword that protruded from its hilt, the iron acting as a lightning rod. The violence of the lightning strike propulsed him clear across the deck, and he crashed into the railing, slumping against it. Unmoving.

“DRAKE!”

She started to run toward him, ignoring Enel and everything else that surrounded her. Her hand had instinctively clamped tight on the waver’s handle, knowing that she couldn’t afford to leave it behind.

“Please be ok.” She said desperately as she fell to her knee next to him, one hand coming to rest on his neck to check his pulse. “No no no don’t do this to me-”

“Let me.” Said Sanji, gently pushing her away as he laid Drake flatly on his back. He checked his neck as well, grimaced when he couldn’t detect anything, crossed his hands over Drake’s chest and started to push down, counting under his breath.

“He just…”

“I saw, fuck, nine, if he had managed to stall, ten, for barely a minute more we would have crashed this ship back down on the ground.” He had stopped for a few seconds to tell Usopp what he had destroyed down in the hull, and had reached the door just in time to see the attack coming for Nami.

“It would have hit me…”

“Nami-san, I need you to focus.”

“Of course.” She answered automatically, blinking the tears away from his eyes.

“Is he breathing?”

She put a hand close to his mouth and nose, and shook her head negatively. “He isn’t.” She answered after a second, seeing that Sanji was focused on his compressions and wasn’t looking at her.

“Okay, you need to breathe for him. Inhale exhale, deep breaths, two times when I reach thirty. Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, go.”

He looked away as she started to give him mouth to mouth, knowing that someone needed to do it and no matter that an unhappy part of his brain was screaming in jealousy, he wouldn't let one of his crewmates die. Another part of him was just glad there was someone else here and he wasn't forced to give mouth to mouth to a man, but he ignored it as well.

He used the few seconds of respite it gave him to check on the other occupants of the ship. Usopp still hadn’t resurfaced, but the Ark Maxim had stopped rising and was instead starting to slowly fall down, so it wouldn’t be too long before he joined them. Luffy had pushed Enel to the other side of the ship and was attacking him relentlessly, preventing him from doing anything more than dodging.

“He still isn’t breathing.” Panicked Nami as he started the compression once again.

“It’s okay, five, as long as you keep doing it for him, six, and he doesn't have to go without oxygen for more than a couple of minutes.” He answered. “I can do that for as long as he needs until he comes back to us.”

“I’ve never… I was usually the one who drowned, Arlong and his crew never had any problems…” And she didn't think they ever had to revive her, they just punched her in the stomach to make her cough back the water she had inhaled.

“What happened? Is he okay?” Asked Usopp, dropping to his knees next to them.

“Enel hit him, the lightning was coming for me…” Explained Nami. She glanced back toward the fight. “He’s starting to overwhelm Luffy, I’m not sure how long he’ll be able to protect us.”

“Can we even move him?”

“I’d rather break his ribs by doing this in the wrong position on the waver than have us all die here.” And it was suddenly a real risk. More than just defeat, they could be killed any second they stayed here.

“We won't all fit on it.” She muttered, and she refused to leave anyone but Luffy behind.

“We don't have a choice.” Countered Sanji immediately. "Usopp, help me.” He ordered, acutely aware of each second that passed as they moved Drake to the waver and he wasn't doing the compressions.

“Do you know…” He started to ask Usopp as he knelt over Drake's torso, the angle awkward and not optimal at all but the best he could do with the limited space. Nami was the only one who knew how to ride this device, so he had to rely on Usopp.

“Kaya was training to be a doctor, I've listened to her… I just need to breathe for him, right?” Asked Usopp as he sat on the back of the waver where the dials were located, stabbing the hook linked to his belt into the side of the waver and moving his arm around Drake's shoulder for a better hold.

Nami was standing behind Sanji to be able to grab the waver's controls. It was a tight fit, but since they were all either grabbing each other or the waver, they would be alright.

“You beat him up, Luffy!” Shouted Nami as her hand clenched over the handles.

“You bet I am!” He yelled back, his fist smashing eerily against Enel’s face as he tried to attack them before they could get off the Ark Maxim and sending him away from them.

Chapter Text

Nami managed to make them land on one of the clouds surrounding the ruins of the city of gold. The landing wasn’t soft, but it wasn’t harsh enough to hurt any of them.

“How is Drake?” She asked worriedly, immediately turning around to peer over Sanji’s shoulder

“I’m pretty sure I sensed a beat, he just needs to continue fighting a little longer.” Answered Sanji. He had removed his hands from Drake’s torso just before they reached the ground, not wanting to risk putting too much weight on him and breaking his ribs, but at the last moment he had felt something in his chest.

“Chopper and the others shouldn’t be too far away, but I don’t know what state they’re in…” After Aisa, the little Shandian girl, had tried to steal her waver and the two of them had ended up running around in the jungle, they had managed to find Zoro, Chopper, and Robin, as well as Gan Fall and one of the Shandians. But before they could discuss anything, Enel had arrived and defeated them in barely a few hits. Chopper had already been down before Enel reached them, which meant that either a member of Enel’s army or a Shandian had beat him up. She hadn’t paid too much attention to his wounds, too busy trying to stay alive, but she remembered that he had been unconscious. Hopefully, his wounds weren’t too grave and he would be able to help them with Drake.

She had been close enough to Robin to check that she was okay, but Enel had defeated Zoro after multiple bolts too far away from her to see if he was still alive, and she couldn’t help but fear what they would find once they reunited with the others.

“Drake's heart’s beating on its own.” Finally announced Sanji.

Nami sagged in relief, Usopp letting out a huge sigh on the other end of the waver.

“Thanks g… Thanks the Sea.” She muttered. “That’s where I last saw the others.” She added, recognizing the area they had reached.

“I don’t see anyone… Do you think something happened to them?” Asked Ussop.

“No, they would have been left here.” Answered Nami. She had seen plenty of unconscious or dead bodies while traveling through the jungle. “They had to have moved on their own… But who knows where they are now.”

“Robin-chan wouldn’t have strayed far, this looks like the kind of ancient ruins she’d like to explore.”

“And she’d know where the rest are.” She agreed. “Robin! Where are you?” She shouted.

“Should we really call for them? Who knows how many enemies there are around.” Worried Usopp.

“Enel said that everyone that reunited here were the last ones… Robin!”

“Robin-chan!” Sanji’s voice joined Nami’s.

“I might still have some of those flares I used in Alabasta.” Muttered Usopp, rummaging through his bag.

“There is no need.” Usopp shouted in fright at Robin’s voice. One eye and a mouth had appeared on one ruined wall next to them, in what was a frankly disturbing sight. “We’re in that direction.” A hand appeared on top of the wall, pointing.

“Tha- thanks Robin.”

~~One Piece~~

“Chopper!” Yelled Usopp as he reached the group. He eyed the various Shandians warily, but they seemed too interested in taking care of their own wounded to pay too much attention to them. “We need you, Drake got badly hurt.”

“What happened?” Chopper immediately asked, grabbing his doctor bag and following him back to where Sanji and Nami were, Sanji carrying Drake over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, tall enough that Drake’s feet weren’t dragging against the ground.

“Enel happened.”

“He got electrocuted, twice.” Explained Sanji as he dropped Drake on the floor. “I had to perform CPR the second time.”

“Thrice.” Corrected Nami in a small voice. He had been hit twice on the Ark Maxim, almost back to back.

“His heart is beating normally… No difficulty breathing.” Chopper softly pressed on his torso. “A few cracked ribs but none are broken, good job.” He praised absentmindedly. It would be hard for anyone to gauge how much strength they could put behind their compressions, what with Drake being taller and stronger than most people. “The burns are bad, but he’ll heal from them. I’ll have to keep a close watch on him though, make sure he doesn’t relapse.” He grabbed the remnants of Drake’s bandages, which had been burned down by Enel’s attacks. He sniffed the air a few times, getting closer to his torso. “You said he was electrocuted thrice… You treated him before?”

“Both he and Sanji got electrocuted and lost consciousness the first time, not too long after we separated. I knew to look out for the burns, so I treated them as best as I could.” Said Nami.

“Good, good. Let me just apply back some burn paste on him, then I’m checking you as well, Sanji. Are you two injured?” Nami and Usopp could be trusted to tell him the extent of their injuries. Sanji would keep on fighting and standing even if his body could barely take it, and Chopper wasn’t sure he would have admitted to being hurt.

“Just minor scrapes and bruises. We’re probably some of the more healthy people on this island right now.” Reassured him Usopp.

“Where did you learn to perform CPR, cook-san?” Asked Robin.

“Do you know where Luffy is?” Asked Zoro at the same time.

“I worked in a sea restaurant, before. People falling overboard and almost dying happened at least once a week, I learned young.” Explained Sanji.

“He’s still up there.” Answered Nami, pointing toward the Ark Maxim. It hadn’t yet reached the ground, but it wouldn’t be long before it crashed. “He’s immune to Enel’s powers, because he’s rubber. From what I’ve heard, he finally managed to get out of the snake, saw you all unconscious here, and it made him pretty angry, I don’t think Enel will last long.” Luffy would have led an assault on Arlong’s crew alone to avenge all the hurt she ever felt at his hands. There was no doubt that he would make Enel pay given what he had done to them.

“Good.”

~~One Piece~~

Luffy was so angry, he felt like he was boiling. No one before had managed to hurt his crew, not to his extent, and not on his watch. Enel had lost some of his smugness now that his face was covered in his own blood, but it still wasn’t enough. He wanted to beat him up until he could no longer get up, to defeat him so thoroughly that he would never even contemplate the thought of hurting someone he cared about ever again.

Now that they were the only ones left on the Ark Maxim, his friends safe below him, he could give his all in this fight without being pushed on the defensive by Enel trying to get a cheap shot at them.

It didn’t mean that the fight suddenly became easy. Enel managed to avoid his attacks more often than not, even if he didn't dodge them all. His lightning was useless for attacking, but he still used it to move quickly around Luffy, generally trying to get in his blind spot. Luffy’s instincts were most of the time enough to warn him of where he would reappear.

Just then, Enel disappeared from in front of him, and Luffy turned to the side, one arm coming to block the staff-turned-trident by grabbing one of the prongs. The middle one still tore through his elbow, and he grunted in pain. Enel pushed against him, forcing him to take a step back and hit the golden wall with his back.

Except that instead of stopping, he started to sink into it.

“Wha-”

Enel pushed back one last time and he took a second step back, destabilized, only for the gold to solidify again around him, only leaving his head and one leg free.

“Did you think that my ability to change gold’s shape into what I want was limited to my staff?” He twirled the trident above his head before pointing it toward Luffy, now transformed into a spear. “I’ll just stab you right through the head, sadly you won’t suffer too much…”

“I won’t let you…” He wouldn’t die to an enemy like Enel. His fist tried to clench in anger, but he couldn’t move at all because of the gold trapping him.

Enel moved his arm forward to impale him, Luffy started to force even more, his muscles burning as he tried to move. “I won’t let you hurt my friends anymore!” He shouted as his arm broke free, his fist smashing into Enel’s face and sending him flying.

“What-” Enel jumped back to his feet, spitting blood on the floor. “How did you do that? No one is strong enough to shatter gold once trapped inside.”

Luffy looked down at his still clenched-up fist. He had just known that if he didn’t manage to get out of there, Enel would go back down and hurt his crew, and that was just unacceptable.

A black sheen appeared over his skin, disappearing in less than a second.

“You keep underestimating people. You can’t even see the worth of this country.” Luffy said.

His hand must have been closer to the surface than I thought. Reassured himself Enel. “Oh, I see it's worth very well.” He said out loud. “That’s why I took all the gold with me, and why as soon as I’ve killed you, I’ll go take the Golden Bell for myself as well.” He said, pointing up toward the top of the beanstalk, where he reckoned the Golden Bell was hidden.

“The real treasure here are the people! Who stood up against you once they learned how despicable you truly were, who are now counting on me to make sure you can’t hurt anyone ever again!”

"Haven't I already proved that you weren’t enough to protect even one person?”

“I won’t let you have the time to do anything.” He would never give him another opening like before.

Luffy smashed his free foot into the floor and with a cry of effort, he moved forward. He could only feel the wall’s resistance at first as his body tried to stretch. His now free hand came to rest against the wall and he pushed with it. He grinned as the first crack appeared, and soon a pang of the wall came off. He sent it hurling toward Enel, and the god was so surprised by Luffy once again being able to free himself that he didn’t move out of the way in time. The block was large enough to hit his whole body and send him crashing against the railing, embedding his body in it.

Enel’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and Luffy let out a tentative breath, cautiously approaching him to check if he really was unconscious. Before he could take more than a few steps, Enel took a stuttering breath as he regained consciousness, pushing himself up and staggering to his feet.

“You… Are really pissing me off.”

“Good.” Spat out Luffy, leaping toward him. Enel teleported to the side and away from him.

“200 Million Volts… Amaru.”

In front of Luffy’s eyes, Enel started to grow, lightning surrounding his body, first yellow then blue as it increased in intensity. Luffy watched in surprise as Enel took a fighting stance, one hand held out in front of him, ready to shoot lightning, his body so large that he barely fit on the Ark’s deck.

“I am God, you pathetic creature-”

“And I don’t care!” Shouted Luffy, throwing himself without fear toward Enel. He grabbed his outstretched hand and with a yell threw Enel’s gigantic body over his shoulder, sending him crashing.

“I don’t care if you are a king!” He jumped high into the air, bringing his feet down against Enel’s head like a spear, the Ark cracking under the impact.

“I don’t care if you are a god!” He grabbed Enel’s shoulder as he landed, ignoring how the electricity was so hot it hurt even him, and headbutted him with as much strength as he could.

“I wouldn’t even care if you were the most important person in this world.” Enel tried to roll to the side to protect himself, but Luffy didn’t give him the time, his fist crashing against his jaw.

“No one gets to hurt what’s mine!” Enel’s eyes widened as Luffy’s yell resonated through the island, carrying his will. His fists blurred out of sight as he released his Gatling, the repeated impacts breaking the Ark Maxim through Enel’s body. He threw a hand toward the nearby beanstalk, grabbing it in time not to get dragged down. Enel had regained his previous size under the assault, and his body fell between the two broken pieces of the ship, falling into one of the cloud lakes.

Luffy hummed happily when after a few seconds, it didn’t look like Enel would come out of it. “Must have been hard enough to knock him out.” He muttered to himself. He knew his friends were waiting somewhere for him, and he wanted to see that they were alright, but first…

Old man Cricket would really like to know his mystery island is here. And the two monkeys as well. Maybe that bell will ring loud enough… Enel had pointed toward the top of the beanstalk earlier while talking about the bell. He hoped it meant it was there.

~~One Piece~~

Chopper sighed tiredly as he checked one last time that Luffy was alright. His captain hadn’t been hurt too badly, since he had been immune against most of Enel’s attacks, but the fight still had taken a lot out of him, and he hadn’t been immune to Enel’s trident. The citizens had mentioned that they would throw a party later that night to celebrate Enel’s defeat and disappearance, and since they wouldn’t have access to food until then, the best way for Luffy to get better was to sleep.

Chopper had dragged him to his infirmary as soon as he had come back, since he was the only one he hadn’t had the time to examine and Luffy hadn’t seemed interested in moving to his hammock, wanting to stay near his crew. Drake was occupying the other bed, this time sleeping and not unconscious. He had woken up briefly while they were moving back to Merry and had seemed coherent, if in pain. Chopper was hopeful that the damage wouldn’t have consequences down the line, but he hoped that they would avoid any fighting for the next few days. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be as bad as Zoro, and wouldn’t insist on training and fighting the next day.

He fell against Luffy torso, rubbery arms instantly surrounding him. He was close enough to his charges that he would sense and wake up if there was a problem, and he really needed sleep at that point. He removed his hat, closed his eyes, and let himself fall into slumber.

~~One Piece~~

“So.” Said Nami once they had been left alone on Merry, Conis and Pagaya leaving them to go back to the rest of the Skypieans. “Let’s talk about the important thing.” The only ones missing were Chopper, Luffy, and Drake, but Luffy would probably only wake up once the party started, and it wouldn’t leave them enough time to do what she wanted. And she wanted to profit from the general chaos to reach her objectives. “The gold.”

“Wasn’t there a lack of gold in the city of gold?” Asked Zoro.

“Yes, there was. Good job for noticing.” She nodded at him. “Enel stole it all to create his airship. Since, technically, we defeated Enel, I think we should have the right to take it all with us.”

“I’m pretty sure it isn’t all going to fit on Merry.” Interrupted Usopp. “And really, that’d still be stealing from the people living here, no?”

“Neither the Skypiean nor the Shandian value gold.” Interrupted Robin.

“What ?”

“Really ?”

“Sweeeeet…” Crowed Nami.

“Enel joked about how the citizens of those islands were sitting on such a treasure, and didn’t even know how valuable it was.” She informed them.

“We could just tell them that we’re dismantling Enel’s ship, and take all the gold with us.” Proposed Ussop.

“Good plan. Zoro, go cut his ship up. Ussop, Sanji, we’re going to bring as much gold as possible to Merry.” Ordered Nami.

“Drake’s weapons are still there as well. I’m sure he’d like to get them back at one point.” Added Sanji.

“Don’t volunteer me!” Protested Usopp at the same time.

“It’s for Merry’s repair.” She reminded him.

“I’ll help as well.” Smiled Robin, crossing her arms.

~~One Piece~~

The party had lasted well into the night, only really stopping as the sun started to peak over the clouds. The crew had been woken up by Luffy at noon, his internal clock telling him that he needed food right now, and the Skypieans had been happy to provide.

“What’re we doing today?” Yawned Nami. “Leaving the island?”

“I’d like to see more of those dials, see if I can trade for them.” Said Usopp.

“We’re not in a hurry to leave.” Agreed Robin. “I’ll go explore those ruins, I’m sure they hide many secrets.”

“Enel might not have taken everything of value…” Mused Nami.

“Merry’s already full, so you won’t be able to bring anything else.” Warned Usopp.

“Maybe just a few jewels… Ah, wait Robin!” She jumped to his feet to run after her.

“Luffy’s already busy… Let’s say, regroup here for dinner? The girls will be back by then.” Offered Ussop.

“Fine with me.” Agreed Chopper, and the other agreed with a smile.

“So, Drake.” Started Zoro.

“We’ll need to reinforce our training.” Said Sanji.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve unlocked haki.” They said at the same time.

“You did?” Asked Drake, looking toward Zoro in surprise.

“Don’t copy me-” He started to spat at Sanji. “Yeah, when I was facing the iron priest. One of his attacks hit me and should have cut me pretty badly, but it didn’t do any damage.”

“Copy you?” Spluttered back Sanji. “See, even Drake doesn’t believe you. Don’t just say that because you’re feeling bad that you’re weaker than me.”

“Drake didn’t ask you because the idea that you could have unlocked it is so laughable that there is no doubt-”

“Please, Zoro, Sanji.” Drake sighed. “I was with Sanji almost all the time, I’ve seen the moment where he unlocked his.”

“When Enel attacked, yes.” Sanji nodded.

“So, armament?” He turned toward Zoro. “Did you try to use it again?”

“Couldn’t do it again, and it only happened once at the end of our fight.” He explained. “That’s why I’m hoping it’ll happen again during training.”

“Three-way fight?” Offered Drake. “See if you can block us, Zoro, and if Sanji can avoid our hits.”

“You three are not going to fight anyone, especially not each other!” Shouted Chopper. “You all got electrocuted at least once, you can’t go-”

“Of course not, we won’t do it right now, Chopper.” Agreed Drake, catching the others’ eyes. “Hey, Luffy is finally awake and he’s no longer being distracted by the party, isn’t it time to check if his arm is fine?”

“He’s not… What is he trying to eat?” Shrieked Chopper as he ran away from them and toward their captain.

“You really are good enough to fight?” Asked Zoro as they jumped to their feet at once, getting away before Chopper came back. “You scared us pretty badly, back then.”

Drake shrugged. “I feel fine.” He said honestly. He held out his hand in front of him. “No shaking, the only things that still hurt are the burns, and I can fight through that discomfort.”

“Don’t drop dead again, you don’t want the mosshead to do mouth-to-mouth.”

Drake’s eyes flickered toward the swordsman, who was currently topless, having removed his tank top at one point during the night. Even if he was bandaged, none of his muscles were hidden. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Chapter Text

It was in high spirits that the crew left Skypiea’s main island for the border clouds.

Robin had found a new poneglyph and had spent the day exploring the ruins, Usopp had traded rubbish for various dials, everyone was healthy enough to satisfy Chopper, and most importantly for the crew but especially for Nami, they were leaving the island with Merry filled with gold. Neither Sanji nor Zoro had been able to use haki a second time, but it hadn’t been enough to dampen their spirit after that first success.

“Now, the ride in Octoballon shouldn’t take more than an hour, so enjoy!” Shouted Conis, waving at them.

“Octoballon?” Repeated Sanji, leaning over the railing and looking back at the island where Conis and Pagaya were sending them off.

“Aren’t we going to just take one of the cloud roads?” Wondered Nami.

Conis kept silent, only waving at them, smiling as their ship left the safety of the clouds to plunge into a freefall. After a second, she grabbed the whistle at her neck and called the Octoballon. The giant octopus shot out of the clouds, deftly catching Merry with its tentacle and immediately slowing down their fall.

“I’m dying, I’m dying, I’ve seen the light…” Muttered Usopp.

Nami sobbed next to him. “Never going back to a sky island, never…”

“AAAAH, Drake is dead again! Someone call a doctor!”

~~One Piece~~

Drake had, after all, not been dead, but seemed to regret being alive based on the glares he kept shooting at the sky and the dark threats that he muttered under his breath should anyone ever suggest ever doing something like that again.

“Where are we going now, navigator-san?” Asked Robin, ignoring the brooding zoan at her side to lean toward Nami.

“Please let it be a normal island.” Added Drake. Twice! Twice he had to suffer through a freefall because apparently, the road builders on Skypiea were unable to do their job normally. Dinosaurs were not supposed to ever leave ground!

“The log pose settled while we were on Skypiea, so I have already established our course.” Answered Nami. “And it’s pointing horizontally.” She added for Drake’s benefit. “We should be able to sleep peacefully through the night, the sea is calm and will remain so for the next few hours.”

“Oh, it’s already late.” Noticed Luffy.

“Food will be ready soon!” Shouted Sanji through the kitchen door, anticipating his captain's next comment.

The kitchen was even more cluttered than usual, chunks of gold disorderly laid against the walls.

“Here it is.” Said Sanji as he put a plate in front of each of them.

“Tmmks Smji.” Answered Luffy.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Admonished Nami, pushing his jaw up with the back of her hand.

“It’s Skypiean food. Savor it, we only have enough for a couple of meals.” Sanji warned as they happily dug in.

“So.” Started Zoro, once the meal was over. “It’s funny how everyone -well, almost everyone- reached the same ruins at the end.”

Nami nodded. “Especially given that some of us weren’t supposed to be there at all.”

“Who got there first ?” He asked. “Robin?”

“I reached the ruins on the surface fairly quickly.” She agreed. “Then I left them for a time, to defeat Enel’s chief enforcer, and I found the remnants of the golden city underneath when I came back.”

“Chief enforcer? Is that like one of the priests?” Asked Usopp.

“From what I understood, he was in charge of Enel’s army. His strength must have been comparable to that of the priests.”

“How did you beat him?” Wondered Drake.

“He fought by jumping up and crushing people with his weight. I got rather cross when he kept destroying the ruins around me, so I used his weight against him and pushed him off a cliff.” She explained casually, her small smile not faltering.

“Robin is scary.” Whispered Chopper.

“Yes she is.” Agreed Usopp, nodding quickly.

“Well, I know that at least Zoro was already here when Aisa and I got to the ruins, and Luffy was in the snake…” Said Nami.

“Chopper got there before me.” Said Zoro.

“Ah! I took down my own priest!” He shouted happily, making his little embarrassed dance as everyone congratulated him. “He used swamp clouds to cover the ground in swamps, and then he pushed people in them until they drowned, while he floated above with dials strapped to his feet. So I tricked him and stole his dials, and he crashed into his own swamp.”

“That was smart of you!” Cheered Usopp.

“Another priest appeared after that, a swordsman, but he defeated me.” He added in a more subdued tone.

“I beat him up for you.” Said Zoro. “And I wouldn’t call him a swordsman. The guy used something called iron clouds, and he could modify the form of his weapon at any time. He used it more like a whip than a sword. He had this technique where he trapped us all into a dome made of barbed wire.” He added, remembering that Drake had told them that knowing about their enemies' techniques could be useful if they ever had to face someone with similar powers. “Other than that, there isn’t much to say. I was just stronger when we did our last attacks.” They had ended up facing each other and had attacked at the same time, Ohm extending his sword toward him while he sent a flying slash. That’s when he had been hit, he had felt the tip of the blade hit his face, too fast for him to dodge, but instead of cutting through his cheek and possibly hit his eye, the sword had just deviated on impact, not leaving any mark behind.

“So that’s, what, three priests out of four?” Asked Luffy, counting on his fingers.

“The one who attacked Chopper the other day was a priest as well.” Told them Sanji. “I heard some of the Shandians say that they had defeated him, but I don’t know who did.”

“Did you fight anyone before Enel?” Asked Drake, turning toward Luffy.

“No.” He said with a whine. “I spend the afternoon trapped in that stupid snake.”

“And whose fault is that?” Grumbled Nami.

“Well, that’s everyone for the exploration team.” Said Robin, refocusing the conversation before Luffy and Nami could start to bicker. “What did your group do?” She asked, turning toward Sanji, who had taken a seat next to Usopp.

“Not much.” Snorted Sanji. “Enel came, defeated Drake and me in two minutes, and then he left.”

“Yeah, he just taunted Gan Fall some and zapped away.” Said Usopp. “We had to fight the brothers of the first priest guy we affronted, though. They had the same fighting style as him, with dials in their hands. Gan Fall helped, but we defeated them without too much problem.” And wasn’t it nice to be able to say that he was strong enough to take on his own enemies, without lying?

“After that we learned from Conis about Enel’s plan to destroy the island, and Aisa decided to steal my waver to follow her friends. We got swallowed by the snake,” Nami scowled at Luffy, who didn’t look repentant at all, “and after we got out, Enel defeated you guys. I followed him to his Ark Maxim instead of letting me get killed.” She refused to feel guilty for it. Enel had taken out Robin in one hit, then Zoro, Wiper, Gan Fall in barely a few. She had known there was no way she could take him down, especially not on her own. And she had hoped to… what, take over the airship and bring it down? Even though she didn’t know what she would have done, she wouldn’t have let him escape without trying something behind his back.

She quickly glanced at the others, but no one seemed to be judging her for it, despite their immediate refusal of Enel’s offer.

“Then Drake and the rest were up there as well to…”

“Sabotage his ship.” Said Drake when she trailed off. “We thought that he wouldn’t destroy the island if he couldn’t get away from it. Luffy beat him in the end anyway.”

“He was an asshole ” Shouted Luffy. “Kept going on about how he’d hurt you all, and he was a god and blah blah. He tried to bury me in his golden wall thingy, and that’s when I hakied up for the first time. And then I beat up his ass.”

“He says it so casually.” Muttered Nami. She had seen almost every member of her crew fall to Enel’s lightning, and Luffy acted like it wasn’t an exploit that he had defeated him.

~~One Piece~~

“Shouldn’t Usopp have the first watch?” Asked Drake as he heaved himself up on the crow nest. He was supposed to take over from the sniper for the second part of the night, having refused to let anyone replace him, and was surprised to see Chopper there instead.

“Ah, yes. I was awake anyway, and wanted to think, so we switched.”

“Is everything alright?” He sat down against the mast, legs bent in half to fit.

Chopper shrugged, turning back to look at the ocean. Drake stayed silent, knowing that the teenager would crack first.

“I said I defeated a priest on my own, but… He beat me up a lot before I tricked him. I even had to eat a second Rumble Ball.”

“You have a time limit on them, right?” Asked Drake. He knew that Chopper had already explained how they worked, but he hadn’t remembered everything.

“Yes. The thing is, it’s an experimental medicine, and I’m the only test subject, so they're not perfect yet. When I eat a second one too close to the first I can still use my seven transformations but I lose control of which one I switch to. And despite having to take a second one, I couldn’t defeat him normally, he had to fall into one of his own traps.”

“You know, there’s no normal way of defeating someone. As long as they’re down in the end, you’ve defeated them.”

“But… I couldn’t beat him on my own. And then I lost to the other priests. Twice! Merry even got hurt because of me.”

“Chopper, you did win on your own. Would you say that Robin didn’t win on her own, because she had to push her opponent down a cliff?”

Chopper frowned, hesitating.

“And sure, you couldn’t beat the other priests, but there will always be someone out there who is either stronger than you or whose skill set is just your counter. I mean, look at me, look at Sanji, or Zoro. We all got taken down by Enel. Hell, I spent most of yesterday unconscious.” Or worse. “Luffy was able to defeat him because he’s rubber, but it doesn't mean that Luffy is stronger than me.” Probably. His growth rate was staggering, Drake could feel him improving fight by fight, and they were close to evenly matched, so close that he wasn’t sure which one of them was the strongest. He was still able to win against Sanji and Zoro in a one-on-one, but now that the three of them were starting to develop their haki, he wondered how long he’d be able to. It had taken him years to get to his level, and that was with the help of a rare and powerful devil fruit.

Monsters, the lot of them.

“So, I’m not… I’m not weak?”

“You’re definitely not weak. Chopper, you’re fifteen. You trained to be a doctor, not a fighter. And yet you took down two of Crocodile’s strongest fighters with Usopp’s help. You took down one of the four strongest followers of Enel, alone. How can you not see how awesome that is? I would barely have been able to stand up to some of Enel’s foot soldiers when I was fifteen.”

“You weren’t strong back then?”

Drake couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him. “I was weak as fuck.” He didn’t want to talk about it, but he needed Chopper to understand how extraordinary he was. “I spent my days running errands for a pirate crew, and getting beat up by people ten times weaker than me because I was afraid to stand up to them. I’m sure you were scared, right? When you fought those guys.” He barely waited for Chopper’s nod to continue. “And yet you still fought them. You didn’t hesitate to put your life on the line to defeat them. Even if you didn’t succeed, that's really brave. Even at twenty-five, I wasn’t as brave as you.” His promotion to Rear Admiral had been the one last thing needed to break through his limits. He doubted he would have had the gall to leave the Marines if he had found out about their dark secrets earlier, too afraid to rock the boat and to leave what had been at the time the only good thing in his life.

Chopper no longer could take it, his hoof smashing against Drake’s leg in protest.

“Don’t flatter me, you bastard…” He trailed off, thinking hard. “I guess I was brave, uh.” He muttered. “Thinking back. I didn’t notice because I was so scared.”

“Yes, you were.” Drake shifted, stretching out his legs as much as he could. The crow nest really wasn’t made for him to sit, but he wouldn’t be able to look Chopper in the face if he stood up. This conversation was more important than a few minutes of uncomfortableness.

Chopper sighed, leaning against Drake’s arm. Drake casually moved, bringing him into a side hug, Chopper’s brain point small enough for him to rest in the crook of his elbow. They stayed that way for a few minutes, before Drake broke the silence once again. Chopper had mentioned something earlier, which had reminded him of one of his worst nightmares.

“So… What was it that you said, about the second rumble ball and no longer controlling your transformation?”

Chapter Text

“Ship approaching starboard.” Warned Robin from her position on the crow nest, somehow managing to be heard from everyone without raising her voice.

Ussop stood up from his position on the floor where he was tinkering with the latest upgrade for his slingshot. Being on a sky island has shown him that he needed more power. Accuracy wasn't enough if the target was too far away. It hadn't been a problem until now, but he might one day need to shoot someone on a nearby island, or on a boat, while on land without access to a cannon. If they ever went back to a sky island, with people able to move far away easily thanks to their dials, he needed to know he could do his job.

“Uh, it's weird.” He said once he got up to the railing.

“What is it?” Asked Chopper, coming up next to him in his smaller form.

“They don't have sails.”

Nami looked up from the magazine she was reading. “No sails? They might power up their ship with something other than wind, it should be interesting to investigate.”

“Well, they still have a mast and the ropes to hold the sails, so I don't think so.”

“They don't have a flag either.” Noticed Chopper.

“Ehoooh!” Shouted Luffy, waving his arms bonelessly above his head in an attempt to get their attention.

“Perhaps they're not a pirate ship.” Said Sanji, putting a cocktail next to Nami. “There, Nami-San.” He said, with a blinding smile.

“Thanks, Sanji-Kun.”

“No, it's definitely a pirate ship.” Said Robin as she reached the deck, thanking Sanji for his attention with a small smile as he held a glass for her as well. “I recognize the type, and given the number of canons on board, it's clearly geared toward attack, not defense.”

“Hey! What happened to you guys?” Yelled Luffy as they slowly went past the ship.

They all watched as the other crew stood in silence, an air of despair almost palpable hanging above them.

“... That was weird.” Said Nami as they got past the ship without anyone answering.

“Do you think something happened to them?” Asked Chopper. “Maybe they're sick!”

“They didn't seem hurt to me.” Reassured Ussop.

“They're sailing strangely too. Like there's no one at the helm.” Noticed Nami.

“Maybe they're drunk.” Said Luffy.

Silence ran for a few seconds at his, surprisingly viable, proposition.

“Uh... Maybe.” Said Nami.

“What? Pirates love to get drunk. And they act strangely when they do.”

“I can't say he’s wrong.” Said Zoro as he got out of the men’s bedroom. “Was there something interesting about the ship?” He had only heard Robin’s announcement and the end of Luffy’s sentence, not their discussion in between.

“Nope.” Pouted Luffy. “Well, maybe they were drinking. That's interesting for you, right?”

“Sure it is.”

~~One Piece~~

“I know the islands can't all be as interesting as Skypiea, but that still looks… Boring.”

The island was totally flat. There didn't seem to be anything interesting as far as they could see.

Which didn't dampen Luffy's excitement at all.

“Even the flattest of islands can hide terrible secrets!” Said Ussop, his voice taking the distinctive tone it held when he was inventing a story on the spot. “Let me tell you about the time the island I was exploring wasn't an island at all, but instead a giant, man-eating flower that attempted to eat me as soon as I stepped on it. I was -”

“Who wants to go explore with Luffy?” Asked Sanji, his back against the kitchen door, ready to cook bentos as soon as he knew how many meals needed to be prepared.

“I'm not staying on the Merry!” Declared strongly Chopper.

“Of course not.” Zoro smiled down at him, before looking up to share a guilty look with Nami.

“I'd rather stay close. Want to train?” Drake asked, his gaze resting on Zoro, then Sanji, to show that the offer was open for the both of them.

“I'll go with you then Chopper! So you have someone strong to fight alongside you against the terrible danger of this island.” Declared Ussop.

“I'll take you up on your offer Drake. Nami-san, Robin-chwan? What will you lovely ladies do?” Asked Sanji.

“I'll finish my book. I’m leaving the exploring to you boys.” Answered Nami.

“I would rather stay here.” Decided Robin.

“Then three lunches coming in a few minutes.” Said Sanji, nodding toward Luffy, Usopp and Chopper, and ignoring Zoro's angry huff that he hadn't waited for his answer, not that he had planned to leave the ship either.

It wasn't long before the three left for their exploration, leaving the rest of the crew behind.

It was calm for a few minutes, both women reading, Sanji cleaning his kitchen after his latest bout of cooking, Drake doing push-ups next to the Merry under Zoro's sleepy eyes who observed his training.

“Incoming!” Shouted Nami as she saw movement from the corner of her eyes, just seconds before a large ship stopped just behind them, throwing two huge chains on either side of the Merry, effectively caging it.

“What -?” Asked Sanji as he threw the door open, hearing Nami’s shout and feeling Merry’s rocking under his feet, caused by the waves that the larger ship had created by stopping next to them.

Robin closed the book she was reading and carefully put it on the table next to her, not yet rising from her position on her deckchair but ready to fight now that her book wouldn't be damaged.

Drake got back up into a standing position, while Zoro put one hand on Wado's hilt, straightening his posture to make it easier for him to jump to his feet if he needed to.

A high laugh reached them, and Nami ground her teeth at the annoying sound. She didn't know yet who was on the other end, but she already wanted to hit them.

“You have been caught by the Foxy's Pirates!” Shouted the man who had jumped on top of his ship's railing. “I'm Foxy, and who might you low-life pirates be?”

“I recognize their flag.” Said a masked woman standing behind him. “They're the StrawHats pirates. They have a combined bounty of… 160 million, with their captain StrawHat Luffy at 100 million and Pirate Hunter Zoro at 60 million.”

“Luffy's up to 100 million!” Shouted Nami. With their excursion to Skypiea, they hadn’t been able to find out their bounties until now.

“It's not surprising, given that he took down Crocodile, who was at 81 million.” Informed them Drake. And no mention of me nor Robin… What is the government trying to do? Or is this crew just misinformed? No, they know Zoro’s bounty and he isn’t the captain, so they should have known ours as well given that they are higher.

“Why did the mosshead get-” Started to rage Sanji, only to get interrupted by Zoro.

“Not bad for a first bounty.” He said with a proud smirk on his face.

“Don't be so proud.” Despaired Nami.

“It certainly seems to indicate you're dangerous. There aren’t a lot of crews where pirates other than the captain have such a high bounty.” Said Robin. It was lower than hers, but it wasn’t like hers meant anything. Not at the time she got it, at least. Nowadays, it was a more faithful representation of her dangerousness.

“You missed a few bounties.” Said Drake loudly. They don't want the world to know we have joined the crew, but why? They might not want to update Robin's poster since she has a tendency to jump crew, but why not mine? I'm not going to let them hide my true affiliations. “Nico Robin here, you might know the name, has a bounty of 79 million, and while I'm not as famous, I'm still at 90 million. So that makes…” He turned to look at Nami, a sly smile on his lips that was mirrored on the navigator's face.

“I believe that gives our crew a total bounty of 329 million. What was it about us being caught?” She asked sweetly.

“N-no matter what, we still have your ship trapped, and we won't let you go until we have reached an understanding with your captain!” Blustered Foxy.

“Trapped? Do you think these chains can trap us, Zoro?” Asked Drake.

Zoro grinned as he grabbed Kitetsu and Yubashiri and advanced toward the first chain. “This tiny thing? Not a chance.” He had never cut something that large, the chain was truly enormous, but now that he knew how to cut metal it wouldn’t resist his blades. He took a breath to center himself, to synchronize with nature’s rhythm, and in a heartbeat moved his swords and cut the chains cleanly in two.

“Do I need to do the other one as well?” He asked the gobsmacked Foxy's pirates.

“You-” Spluttered Foxy. “This chain was already broken! I won't let you make fun of me like that!” Before they could react, he grabbed his gun and shot blindly toward the Merry, the bullet landing right between Nami and Robin.

Sanji slowly raised his head from where he was looking at the impact to stare at Foxy. His murderous intent must have shown on his face, since the other pirate took a step back.

“How dare you put Nami-san and Robin-chan in danger!” He shouted, before a powerful jump sent him right in front of Foxy, at the perfect place to kick him in the face, sending him crashing into his mast. “I won't let a scum like you ever get close to a lady again!” He appeared next to Foxy just as the man got back on his feet, this time sending him flying toward the sea.

“Boss!” Shouted the rest of his crew as they started running around their ship in panic.

Sanji landed back on the Merry, making heart eyes at Nami and Robin. “I’ll always protect you!” He proclaimed.

“Good job, Sanji.” Sighed Nami as the enemy ship started to move toward where Foxy had landed.

~~One Piece~~

“Oii, everyone! We’re back!” Shouted Luffy as he neared the Merry.

“Did you guys have fun?” Asked Nami.

“Yeah, we made a friend!” He answered, pointing toward the old man following them.

“Did something happen?” Asked Ussop, as he stared at Zoro doing sit-ups while holding what looked like a giant hook that he was certain hadn’t been here before.

“Meh. Some weaklings tried to threaten us. We put them back in place. Oh, Luffy! Guess who has a bounty now!” Exclaimed Zoro.

“Uh? Really? How much!” Luffy shouted, a huge smile on his face.

“60 million.”

“Woooh, that’s better than mine!” Said Luffy, half excited for his crewmate, half depressed at the low state of his own bounty.

“Yours also went up. You’re the owner of a 100 million bounty.” Said Zoro.

“100 million.” Repeated Luffy. “Shishishi ! That’s nice.” 100 million. He could bet that Shanks would soon hear about him if his bounty kept going up at this rate.

“You now have the biggest bounty of the crew, congratulation Captain.” Said Drake.

“ANYWAY.” Said forcefully Sanji. “Who’s your friend?”

“His name is Tonjit.” Started to explain Ussop.

“It’s awful. He is stuck on this island without his friend because there’s a huge tide that takes a long time to move, and his friends went to the next island but he was too late to follow them.” Exclaimed Chopper, distress evident in his voice.

“Really? Maybe we can give you a lift, take you to the next island.” Offered Nami with a smile.

“You can’t. This island is a ring, with part of its land disappearing during the tide so it looks like different islands. You won’t be able to follow the log pose, since you’re not looking for another island but the same one.” Explained Tonjit.

“Ah.”

“But your friends already helped me!” He said happily.

At Nami’s questioning glance, Ussop started to explain. “He was stuck on this pair of stilts, you see…” He started to say before Nami dismissed him.

“Well, whatever, I’m sure it was interesting.”

“Do you have enough food? It can’t be easy to live alone.” Asked Sanji.

“I mostly lived off fruits. But now that I’m back on the ground, I can go back to my house! I don’t know what state it will be in though…”

“Ah, we can help you if you need anything.” Offered Luffy.

“Oi, don’t decide that alone.” Complained half-heartedly Zoro. “Of course we’re helping.” He added after a second, seeing the looks he was getting from Ussop, Chopper, and even Nami. Why the witch was suddenly caring about helping people without money being offered first, he didn’t know.

“Shouldn’t someone stay and guard the ship?” Asked Robin, seeing everyone getting ready to leave.

“Ah, it’s fine, Robin-chan. We’ve already dealt with the pirates of the area, I don’t think there’s anyone else here.”

“You fought a pirate crew without me?” Pouted Luffy.

“It wasn’t much of a fight.” Reassured him Drake. “It took one hit to send their captain flying, and the rest of the crew ran away.”

~~One Piece~~

“My house!” Shouted happily Tonjit as the crew got near an old, obviously abandoned house. It was still in a livable state, but moss was covering most of the walls.

“Well, it seems that I took this for nothing.” Said Ussop, dropping his tools on the ground.

“There might be things like wood inside that broke down. Honestly, who gets stuck for ten years on a pair of stilts.” Sighed Sanji.

“I don’t know where I put my keys, but there is a window on the back that doesn’t really close- oh, hello.” Said Tonjit, stopping as he saw a man leaning against his house.

The man was tall, taller than even Drake, who easily towered above the rest of the crew by more than a head. He was leaning without a care against the wall, and managed to look relaxed despite wearing a suit, his tie visibly loose on his neck. The sleep mask covering his eyes was pushed up by a finger, and the man blinked sleepily at them.

“Hello.” He said, his deep voice surprisingly clear seeing that he was clearly coming out of a nap.

“H-hello.” Stammered back Ussop.

“Who’re you?” Asked bluntly Luffy.

A shocked gasp came from Robin when she saw him, and she tried to take a step back, falling to the ground in her panic.

“Robin?” Said almost everyone on the crew. “What’s wrong?” Added Nami.

Drake was the only one not looking at her, his wide eyes fixed on the man in front of them.

“You can’t-” He swallowed compulsively when his voice failed him. His hand fell on his axe, and he could feel green scales appearing on his hands and face without his control. What the fuck is he doing here?

“Drake?” Asked Zoro, his hands coming to rest on his own swords. The rest of the crew followed his lead, moving to put themselves in defensive postures in front of Robin or next to Drake. “Who’s that.”

Drake’s jaw clenched hard, and he tasted blood as his teeth sharpened suddenly. He hadn’t lost control like that since he was a child, but he hadn’t expected to see…

“That’s Admiral Aokiji.”

Chapter Text

Drake’s jaw clenched hard, and he tasted blood as his teeth sharpened suddenly. He hadn’t lost control like that since he was a child, but he hadn’t expected to see…
“That’s Admiral Aokiji.”
“Admiral?”
“That’s bad, that’s bad!” Shouted Chopper as he ran to hide behind Zoro.

“What’s an admiral doing here?” Cried Nami, her hand resting on her belt right next to her clima-tact.

“Oi, oi. Calm down. I’m not here on anyone’s order.” Said Aokiji. “I heard rumors that Nico Robin had joined your crew. I wanted to see if they were accurate. Now that I know, I can just be on my way.”

“You’re expecting us to believe that.” Said sharply Drake, his voice cutting through the air, causing everyone that had relaxed at Aokiji’s words to tense again. “You knew that she had joined the crew as soon as she helped us escape from Black Cage Hina.”

“Nobody was sure that she was the one who helped you back then.” Countered Aokiji, but everyone could see that the protest was half-hearted.

“And they have no one else than an Admiral to send, to do a job that even the worst seaman could do. One of the two admirals involved in Ohara’s Buster Call, just came here to see how Nico Robin was doing, and will leave without doing anything else.” Everyone, even those without haki, could sense the distrust and dislike coming off him in waves.

“I’m not here to fight.” Repeated Aokiji. He sighed, seeing that nobody believed him. “As a show of good faith, I’ll even help you get back to the rest of your tribe.” He said with a nod toward Tonjit.

Sanji’s eyes narrowed at that. They had this discussion back next to the Merry, and the old man had been stuck meters above the ground before. There was no way that Aokiji could have known unless he had been observing them for longer than they thought.

“What? No!” Protested Luffy. “You can’t trust him!” He insisted, turning toward Tonjit and gesturing wildly at Aokiji. “He’s a Marine. A Marine! You can’t trust a Marine! He’ll hurt you or something.”

Everyone blinked in surprise at that, even Robin. The absurdity of his sentences was enough to cut through the tension surrounding them.

“Oh, wait, the Marines are the good guys. Shishishi, I forgot. Well, go ahead then.” He said with a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his head.

“But how are you going to help?” Asked Tonjit.

“Follow me.” Said Aokiji, before walking toward the edge of the island. After looking at each other in silence for a few seconds, the StrawHats decided to follow him as well. Nami extended her hand toward Robin to help her get up, and put her other hand on her shoulder for a few seconds, seeing how shaken she still was, despite Aokiji not having acknowledged her for more than a passing glance.

It wasn’t long before they reached the coast. Aokiji kneeled in front of the water, his arm held in front of him until his hands rested slightly in the water.

“What is he doing ?” Wondered Luffy.

“You’ll see.” Answered Drake. If anything, he was even tenser than before. He just wanted to take his crew, put them on the Merry and sail as far away as possible. To get away from Aokiji, who was about to use his powers. It would take him less than a second to turn this into an attack and defeat them all at the same time.

“Ice Age.”

Ice extended from his fingertips, quickly freezing the sea around them. In a few seconds, it was over, and they could only see ice where before there was water.

“What was that?” Shouted Ussop.

“Those attempts at intimidation won’t work. Those guys just want to fight you even more.” Drake said, indicating Luffy and Zoro with a tilt of his head.

He knew it wasn’t true. Well, not entirely true. They, Luffy and Zoro more than Sanji, would try to take on Aokiji if he tried anything, because they liked fighting and overcoming people stronger than them. But more than that, they wanted to make sure that the crew, and in this case especially Robin who Aokiji had focused on, were safe. However, this right here had been a show of power, and he didn’t doubt that the trio had recognized it and the threat it held: Aokiji could have just created a frozen path, there hadn’t been any need to transform the sea into ice as far as the eye could see.

He was sure that they had understood the implications as well. Even if they went back to the Merry, Aokiji could prevent them from sailing in barely a few seconds, and without exerting himself. They couldn’t run away and Drake knew, and hoped the others suspected it as well, that they had no chance in beating him in a fight. There weren’t many people stronger than an Admiral, and none in this half of the world. Even if they all fought together, they had no chance of even nearing the level needed to harm Aokiji, even less to win.

“I’ve no interest in fighting you, Monkey D. Luffy.” Said Aokiji. “I have a debt toward your grandfather. Letting you go this time isn’t a problem for me.”

“Grandfather?” Repeated Nami.

“Is it him?” Asked Drake. He had noticed Luffy’s last name, of course he had, but Luffy had never mentioned any marine in his family- then again, not even Zoro had known that he had a brother, and he had been sailing with Luffy almost from the first day. His captain was just the kind of guy that didn’t think a commander of the Whitebeard pirates for a brother, or a Marine hero for a grandfather, was something that was important enough to be disclosed to the crew.

“Yes. Then again, it just shows how much potential you have. Given everything your family has accomplished, maybe letting you stay alive to reach your true power is a mistake.”

The sentence was immediately met with a hostile reaction from the crew. Chopper hoof clenched around a Rumble Ball. He wasn’t sure how useful he could be in a fight against an admiral, but he would do his best. He would protect Robin, and Drake, and Luffy, and everyone Aokiji had an interest in harming, even if he was already scared out of his mind, the reindeer part of his brain that hadn’t disappeared completely when he had eaten his devil fruit reminding him that he was prey. And the man in front of him was a predator.

“You’re only few in numbers right now, but you managed to defeat a Shichibukai soon after entering the Grand Line. And Crocodile may have a lot of flaws, but he isn’t weak. The Government might think it’s a fluke, or that you only won because you had help,” his eyes flashed toward Drake for a second, before coming back to Luffy, “but I know better. And now you’ve been joined by a former Marine, and even worse by Nico Robin, and that makes your crew even more dangerous. You don’t know what this woman is capable of. Everyone that comes into contact with her ends up dead, and most of the time it’s because she has betrayed them before.”

Drake didn’t need haki to sense the anger coming from everyone. They weren’t angry at Robin, oh no. They were angry at Aokiji, for insinuating that Robin would betray them, that their nakama would cause their death. Robin had proved herself in Skypiea, but even if she hadn’t, they wouldn’t have let anyone badmouth her once Luffy had decided that she was part of their crew.

“I’m starting to feel insulted. You act like I’m just a footnote because Robin’s here.” He said, faking confidence in the sole goal to take Aokiji’s attention away from their archeologist, even if he was more scared than he had been in a long time. “You may think that she is the one with the most dangerous knowledge, but she only knows so much. I don’t need legendary weapons to bring the world to ruins. I put my hands on a lot of dirty secrets, and I just need to get in touch with the right person, the right army,” he added, clearly hinting at Aokiji that he was talking about the revolutionaries, “and give them the intel for them to bring your government to dust. You don’t need to remind us of how much of a threat Robin and I are to the world, or to imply that she’d ever be a threat to our crew. They won’t turn against us that easily.” He felt the other shifting at his side as he spelled out Aokiji’s goal. “If you had wanted to kill us, you would have done so already.” He knew that much about Aokiji. The man wasn’t one for playing with his target, not when he could do something more productive, like take a nap. “And we’re not going to attack you either, so if you’re waiting for us to fall for one of your traps so you can claim to have the higher ground, to feel self-righteous for killing us in self-defense, then you will wait for a long time.”

Aokiji stared at him for a few seconds, before he sighed. “You’ve just ruined my test.” He complained. His presence suddenly increased, not enough to get detected by anyone not using haki, but enough that Sanji, and surprisingly Luffy, shifted uneasily. “Well. As I said, I have a debt… But you should be careful who you let in your crew. She will be your downfall.”

With this parting shot, he turned his back on them, and went as if nothing important had happened back toward the sea. They could see him not too far away grabbing a bike, of all things. A thin trail of ice appeared under its wheels, as he started to pedal on top of the sea.

Nami fell to her knees. “That was… I don’t want to ever do something like that again. It was scarier than everything we’ve ever encountered before.” He had barely threatened them but she had felt more scared of him than of Enel, something she hadn’t thought possible.

“So that was an admiral.” Said slowly Sanji, lighting a cigarette. He needed the stress relief, and they hadn’t even had to fight. They had barely gotten a glimpse of the man's abilities, but he could tell that he was far above their league. “I certainly hope we won’t have to fight one anytime soon.” And it was a first, not wanting to fight someone that wasn’t a woman.

“I think that we should leave this island, like, right now.” Said Ussop. Chopper nodded frantically next to him.

“And risk running into him again?” Shouted Nami.

“He’s gone now.” Reasoned Drake. “There might be more marines waiting for us at the next island, and we’ll have to be careful. But I think we’re safer here than on open water.” He glanced at Luffy, silently asking him what he wanted to do.

“I’d like us to fight each other. To train.” Decided Luffy.

“We can’t fight against you or Zoro!” Protested Nami.
“I can’t fight against Nami or Robin.” Said Sanji at the same time.

“You’re stronger than you think.” Said Drake, turning toward Nami. “You, Ussop, Chopper… You may not be our most heavy hitters, but you’re still good at your fighting style. What good would Zoro or Luffy be if they can’t hit you because you hide yourself behind an illusion? Knowing haki is useful, but it didn’t protect me against Enel, and you’re able to summon lightning too. Ussop could hit me from far enough away that I would barely be able to pinpoint his presence, and he uses ammunition that wouldn’t register as a threat for most haki users that aren’t expecting him. Chopper is versatile in his ability, and many people will dismiss him if they see him in his smaller form. Even if they see him shift, nobody will expect him to have more than three forms, and he could end a fight without his opponent seeing it coming. You could take down one of us by working together.”

Everyone blinked at him at the end of his tirade. Robin smiled slightly, ducking her head to hide it behind her hair. It was nice to see them believing in each other's strengths.

“Yeah, you guys are super strong.” Said Luffy sincerely. “And you’re a whole lot smarter than I too.”

“Ahah, of course I’m strong…” Started Ussop, before trailing off, too embarrassed by the compliments to come up with a believable tale to distract them.

~~One Piece~~
“Before you decide to fight each other.” Started Nami.

They had come back to the Merry, and Sanji had immediately gone to make a snack to everyone on the crew, putting a drink and a plate of pastry in front of Drake third, after the women of course, to show his support.

“I think we need to learn more about the admiral, or anyone noteworthy in the Marines. If we risk meeting one again, we’ll need all the help to escape.”

“Or beat them.” Countered Zoro.

“Trust me, escaping is our best bet. And we probably won’t even manage to do it unless something else happens to distract them.” Said Drake. “There are three admirals. The one you just met is Aokiji, real name Kuzan. He has ice powers, and is the nicest of the admirals. He has shown compassion to pirates or criminals before, sometimes not bothering to give chase when they tried to escape. Once he had decided not to attack us, he wouldn’t have changed his mind unless we gave him a reason. That’s probably why he tried to anger us and Robin, to make us attack him.”

“He mentioned a test.” Recalled Nami.

“Probably a test of strength, or how much we were willing to fight to protect Robin if he went after her.” Said Sanji. “As if we would ever not fight to help a woman in need.” He scoffed.

“The second admiral is Borsalino, code name Kizaru. He is a logia, the three of them are, and ate the Pika-Pika no Mi. He is able to transform and control light. He seems very laid back at first, but he prefers to follow the letter of the law and not the spirit. If you’re a pirate he has been sent after, he won’t ever let you go, but he won’t go out of his way to fight every criminal he encounters.”

“How would you fight someone that can control light? Even someone that controls ice?” Asked Chopper.

“Learning haki is the best way to go. As a Logia, you won’t be able to do physical damage to them without armament. But they all are masters in haki on top of their Devil Fruit, so it wouldn’t be enough. If we had to fight them… Aokiji powers would prevent Nami from using her Clima-Tact, but Ussop can use fire attacks from a distance, which is an advantage. He could too easily destroy Zoro’s blade by freezing them. Luffy and Sanji could fight him, I think, but they would need to be quicker than usual, as he only needs a second of contact to freeze a limb. Chopper could also help. He would have more difficulty trapping you in ice since you can change your size, and your body heat is higher, as would your fur protect you from the cold for a few more seconds than it would us. It would be too easy for him to freeze Robin’s limb though if she tried to attack.” Drake analyzed.

“So try not to get frozen.” Summarized Chopper, nodding. “I’ll have to look up what’s the least dangerous way to thaw someone.” He murmured.

“For Kizaru… Nobody will be able to match his speed. He is light. You can’t be faster than him, and observation haki won’t help if you’re not fast enough to dodge. Nami’s control of the weather would be a great help here.” Continued Drake.

“The illusions wouldn’t help against him if he used haki.” Said Ussop, remembering the talk they had after Alabasta.

“No, but the principle of my illusions is that I can modify the path of light as I want. It would prevent his attacks from reaching us. It would only work on the defensive, but it would prevent him from using his power. That wouldn’t help against physical attacks, but maybe give us a few seconds of respite.” Understood Nami.

“And it would hinder his movement too, he wouldn’t be able to move by using his powers.” Added Drake. “Neither Luffy nor Sanji are fast enough to match him. Zoro could probably do something, using his blades to deflect the light, but even then Kizaru would be able to break them. He would be able to dodge any attack from Ussop, and I don’t think any of Chopper’s form would help here. If Robin was able to use armament, she could try to restrain him. But then again, his haki is far better than mine, so Robin’s limbs would last less than a second on him.”

“And the last admiral ?” Asked Luffy. He would have thought it boring, talking about strategy like that, but it was important. He needed to know what to look for, to think of new ways of fighting that would help against these enemies. He had been stopped by Smoker back in LogueTown, and his smoke powers seemed now harmless against the others Logia they could encounter. If Aokiji had decided to attack, he didn’t know how he could have won.

He would have won, of course. He would never allow anyone to go after his friends. But he didn't see how.

“His name is Sakazuki, code name Akainu. He is the worst of the admirals. He believes in Absolute Justice. Being a pirate is a crime, and he wouldn’t have hesitated a second to kill us right here, even if we haven't done anything wrong. He is absolutely ruthless, and would have leveled this entire island to make sure none of us survived, and wouldn’t have cared about the civilian casualties.” Drake said harshly. Oh, how he despised Akainu… The man had never given him a chance to prove himself, always reminding him of his father's mistakes. The bastard was probably happy when I defected, it must have been further proof that his vision of justice was right.

“He is the owner of the Magu-Magu no Mi. It’s a highly destructive power. Even protected by haki, the heat his magma emanates will be enough to cause serious burns if we try to fight him for too long. Any rain or cold Nami could create won’t be enough to prevent his magma from forming. Any damage Ussop could do from a distance would pale in comparison to the damage Akainu will do just by standing here using his powers. I honestly can’t think of any way to attack him other than letting me try to hold him off and hope that my scales and my haki will let me live for more than a minute.”

“He’s feared and hated by a lot of pirates.” Added Robin. Despite knowing he was the one that had shot down the rescue ship on Ohara, she didn’t fear him the same way that she feared Aokiji, who made her feel like she was eight and powerless again. It was probably because she had never met him, and it was an abstract sort of fear that she could easily ignore. “Not that a lot of people in the Blues have met him and survived to tell the tale, but there are still some survivors of the sheer annihilation he can leave in his wake.” Her gaze stayed on Luffy, as she didn’t want to face Drake, who knew that she was one of those survivors. Her past wouldn’t stay hidden for long, not if they continued to meet people like Aokiji who were aware of exactly who she was.

The crew deserved to know exactly why they would be hunted and killed.

Whose sins would drag them down.

“That’s reassuring.” Said Sanji, his face turned toward the sky as he took a slow drag of his cigarette. “So, our best bet is intensive haki training, and hope that we somehow manage to defeat them if we ever meet someone that strong.” He summarized.

“We have enough space here to go all out in a fight.” Said Luffy with a grin.

“I’ll fight you then.” Decided Zoro, his hand twitching on Wado Ichimonji’s hilt. “You’re at a disadvantage against my blades, and it’ll make us build up our armament.”

“Sure. It’s a remake of.. what was it… Whiskeytown?”

“Whiskey Peak. Yeah, that was our one serious fight against each other… Let’s change that.”

“Up for fighting me ?” Asked Drake, turning toward Sanji.

“Sure. You know, the people I’ve faced were mostly my height. Aokiji was taller than even you, it might be interesting to think of a way to fight bigger enemies.” He wondered aloud. “I can control my body enough to launch kicks while in the air, but they aren’t as powerful as they could be.”

“I should train, too.” Said Chopper as he watched them go away.

“I want to upgrade my slingshot, and Nami’s clima-tact too. Make them more powerful… I might join you in a few hours, but my new weapon is almost finished, and I just got an idea to make Nami’s illusions last longer.” Ussop answered.

“Okay. Robin?” Chopper asked, gazing up at the archeologist hopefully.

“You were trying to control your transformations, right? You might want to do it again.” Offered Robin.

The last thing she wanted right now was to be involved in a fight. She needed to relax, she could still feel the tenseness in her shoulder. The book she was reading before everything happened was interesting, and getting back into it would just be the distraction she needed.

Chapter Text

Two days after their encounter with Aokiji, and too many bruises to count for the monster quatuor, Luffy got bored enough with fighting the members of his crew to decide to set sail again, and leave the tranquility of Long Ring Long Land behind. The ocean around them was calm, and he was longing to reach a new island, to live new adventures.

“Are we clooose?” He whined to Nami.

“The Log Pose is getting more sensitive- that means yes, we’re close to an island.” Said Nami when she saw that Luffy was already starting to lose attention.

“Do you think they’ll have meat?” He asked, drool at the corner of his mouth.

“I’m sure they’ll have some. But most importantly…” Said Sanji, looking toward Ussop who was busy fixing the railing where Drake had leaned a little too heavily against and it had snapped in half. “I hope they’ll have someone able to build us a new ship.”

Luffy fell silent at that, looking at the tense set of Ussop's shoulder. They had almost forgotten the fact that Merry was breaking down, was dying, and that they would need to abandon her behind. “We’ll find the best shipwright of the entire Grand Line.” He said solemnly. “We’ll find someone worthy of building us a ship that will do Merry proud.”

“Lighthouse right ahead!” Zoro’s shout cut through the silence that had fallen on the deck.

“He has no sense of timing.” Complained Sanji as he watched Luffy suddenly become happy again at the prospect of civilization.

“It distracted longnose-kun.” Commented Robin.

Luffy, Ussop and Drake were indeed looking toward where Zoro had seen the lighthouse, Drake standing a good meter away from the railing after having received another glare from Usopp.

“A lighthouse… I think it’s the second one I’ve ever seen.” Said Luffy

“Really?” Asked Chopper as he joined them. “I’ve never seen one before.”

“There was one at the entrance of the Grand Line.” Explained Ussop. “We would have crashed into Reverse Mountain without it. The weather was horrible, and its light was the only thing guiding us.” He continued dramatically.

“Wooow.” Said Chopper, impressed.

“There’s something else there.” Remarked Luffy.

“Uh? Oh, it seems to be some sort of frog.” Said Chopper.

“What is it standing on?” Asked Usopp.

“I don’t know. Frogs aren’t supposed to be able to stand on water.” Answered Chopper.

“Maybe there’s a ship under him.” Said Zoro. “Just like with the guy in Drum Kingdom.”

“No, I can see something just under the water… It seems to continue that way- we need to turn starboard, now!” Usopp shouted suddenly when he saw a train approaching, seemingly riding on water.

“What the-” Said Sanji as he jumped into the rudder room as he was the closest.

“What is a train doing here?” Asked Nami as she watched it quickly getting near where they would have been had they continued on their path.

“Some islands are connected with train tracks. It's pretty rare though. It’s more usual in the South Blue.” Said Drake.

“Wait, the frog!” Said Chopper as he turned to stare in horror at the accident that was going to happen.

“What’s it doing?” Wondered Zoro as the frog took a fighting stance.

“Is it going to fight the train?” Asked Ussop.

“But it’ll lose.” Cried Chopper.

“Oi, frog!” Shouted Luffy, trying to get its attention before an accident could happen.

The frog didn’t seem to want to listen, it shouted and pushed its paw forward just as the train reached it. The train seemed to stop for a second, before the strength and speed behind it made it continue on its path, the frog being sent away under the hit.

“Oh no.” Gasped out Chapper.

“I don’t see it.” Said grimly Sanji.

“We should stop at the lighthouse.” Decided Nami. “Maybe the people know what is going on with this frog and the train.”

It didn’t take them long to stop the Merry at the entrance of the lighthouse. A young girl and a weird rabbit ran out of the lighthouse, stopping and shouting in fright as they saw them.

“Pirates! Granny, pirates are here!”

“Uh no, wait-” Started to protest Nami before an old woman got out of the lighthouse as well. She stopped walking when she saw them, blinked a few times, before taking a drink directly from the bottle she held loosely in her hand.

“Lemme call the marines.” She slurred, vacillating as she started to walk back into the building.

“Ah, wait Grandma, no need to call the marines!” Protested Ussop.

“We’re good guys!” Added Chopper.

“We’re good guys.” Repeated Drake, glancing down at Chopper. “Don’t call the marines on us, we’re good guys.”

“Ah? Ok.” Said the old woman.

“And it worked.” Sighed Zoro.

“I’ll try that the next time the marines try to arrest us. ‘Oh no, don’t arrest us, we’re good guys.’” Said Drake dryly.

Chopper looked up at them. “What are you talking about?” He asked.

“Nothing Chopper, don’t worry about it.” Said Zoro, fondly pushing Chopper’s hat over his eyes.

~~One Piece~~

“So, Grandma, do you know what the frog outside was doing?” Asked Luffy as they settled around the table.

The woman, who had introduced herself as Kokoro, her granddaughter Chimney, as well as the rabbit that was in reality a cat, Gombe, nodded.

“He’s Yokozuma. He’s always trying to fight off the Sea Train.” Explained Kokoro.

“What is this sea train?” Asked Nami. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It’s a specialty of the island around there. The closest island is Water Seven, home of the best shipbuilders of the Grand Line.”

“I’ve heard the name.” Confirmed Drake. “Even the government goes to Water Seven when they want new warships.”

“Shipbuilders?” Repeated Luffy. “We’re looking for a shipwright. Merry is…” He trailed off, throwing a regretful glance toward where they had moored Merry.

“A shipwright heh? Look for a man named Iceburg, he’ll know how to direct you. Here, let me…” She rummaged for a few seconds at her desk before getting out a map of Water Seven. “His office is here, you should find him there or close by. If not, you can just go to Dock 1, the best shipwrights work from there, they’ll be able to direct you.” She said, pointing toward different places on the map.

“Ah, thanks Kokoro-san!” Said Nami, happily taking the map from her.

“Iceburg can be fairly occupied, but he’ll make time for you if he knows I sent you.” She said, bending to quickly write a message on a piece of paper, folding it in half before giving it to Nami. “Give him this when you see him.”

~~One Piece~~

“Nobody seems worried to see us…” Wondered Usopp as one man took a look at their pirate flag and directed them casually toward the back of the island.

“Water 7 is renowned for their ships, they must often see pirates here.” Said Robin.

“The problem is more that we risk encountering Marines.” Added Drake. “Aokiji met us at Long Ring Long Island, and we followed the log pose from there. Even if we waited a few days before coming, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a strong marine presence here, with orders to look for us.”

“We need to stay in groups then.” Decided Nami.

“I’m going with you Nami-san!” Immediately shouted Sanji.

“What do we need to do exactly here ?” Asked Chopper.

“Hmm, find the Ice-guy, so he can take a look at Merry.” Said Luffy. “And find meat!” He added.

“We need to trade the gold for money.” Said Nami. “I’ll take care of this, Sanji-kun you’re with me, I need someone strong enough to carry the gold there and protect it. Then we need another group to find Iceburg. The rest is free to do what they want.”

“I’m going to see Iceburg.” Decided Ussop.

“I’ll go with you.” Said Drake.

“I think I’m going to do some shopping.” Said Robin. “I can take care of the food shopping if you want, cook-san.” She offered Sanji.

“Oh, no, Robin-chan. I couldn’t ask it of you! Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it after we’re done with the gold.” It would probably be late by then, since most of the afternoon had already gone by, but he’d hopefully still find a few shops open.

“Then I’m probably going to look for a library.” She said, looking down at Chopper in a silent question.

“I’m coming with you then.” Decided the reindeer.

“ ‘d rather stay on Merry.” Said Zoro, already leaning against the mast in a comfortable position to nap.

“Luffy?” Asked Ussop.

“Hmmmm…” Hesitated the captain. “Ah, I’m going with you, we’re going to meet new guys, it’ll be fun.”

~~One Piece~~

Navigating the city on a Yagara, an animal that was able to sail the flooded streets, was fun. At least Luffy seemed to think so. Ussop was a little less excited, and Drake only seemed vaguely interested in their transportation method.

While the Yagara wasn’t quick, the canals were constructed in such a way that it didn’t take them too long before they reached Dock 1. Just next to the enormous door where ‘Dock 1’ was inscribed was a building which was where they were supposed to be able to meet Iceburg according to Kokoro’s map. The building was surrounded by a fence, and they got intercepted by a man when they neared the opening.

“Hello. What are you doing there?” He asked. His face was strange, with a nose almost as long as Ussop, but square. Short, orange hair could be seen under his cap that had the word ‘Galley’ written on it. Coupled with his clothes and the various tools that were hanging from his belt, it wasn’t hard to guess that he was a shipwright.

“Ah! Square Ussop.” Exclaimed Luffy.

The man frowned slightly at him in confusion, before dismissing the strange comment. Ussop started to shout at Luffy, and Drake took over the conversation.

“Hello, we’re looking for Iceburg.” He said. “We met Kokoro, the woman at the lighthouse, she told us that he would be able to help us with our ship.”

“I apologize, but Iceburg is not here at the moment. He is a very occupied man, you know. Not only is he the president of the Galley-La company, but he also is the mayor of Water 7 as well as the manager of the sea train.”

“Wow, so he’s a really important guy.” Said Ussop, impressed.

“I suppose you came here to get your ship repaired.” He guessed.

“Hm, our ship is really damaged. We're here to have a new one built for us.” Explained Drake, not wanting to get into details about the Klabautermann.

“Ah, I better go verify its condition then. It might be fixable. Where is it docked?” He asked.

“Uh, at the peninsula at the back.” Answered Ussop.

“You’ll have to move it soon, then.” Warned the shipwright. “The Aqua Laguna is tonight. There are a few docks higher in the city if you need.” With that comment, he smiled at them, took a few steps back and did a series of stretches, before suddenly starting running.

He ignored Luffy and Usopp's shouts of surprise as he ran off to the edge of the building and launched himself into the streets below.

Launched himself far. Way too far. And with a very distinctive way to move his feet.

Drake might not have mastered the skill but he could recognize Soru when he saw it.

He could recognize bad news.

“Don’t worry about Kaku, he does that every day.” Said a new voice before he could warn the others.

“Wow, really?” Asked Luffy.

“Yes, he’s even been nicknamed Mountain Wind. Hi, I’m Iceburg.” Said the newcomer, tilting his head in greeting, before turning toward a blonde woman. “This is Kalifa, my secretary. And that’s Tyrannosaurus.” A small mouse peeked his head out of his suit’s pocket, waving at them before returning to its hiding place.

“Tyra-” Started to repeat Usopp, falling silent as Drake turned to glare at him. He couldn’t hold back his chuckles however.

Iceburg looked at him curiously, but chose not to comment. “Kalifa, we should use him as a new logo for the Galley-La.” He thought out loud.

“You already proposed this when you found it yesterday.” Kalifa answered in a bored tone. “Every change concerning the Galley-La’s name, logo, or any other that would have an impact on its brand first has to go past a popular vote-”

“Mwell, we’ll see about that later.” He cut her off, already bored. “And, who might you be?” He asked, turning to the Straw Hats.

“They are the Straw Hats pirates. Most of the crew originate from the East Blue, and they currently have 8 members. With Straw Hat Luffy, Pirate Hunter Zoro, Demon Child Nico Robin, and Red Flag X Drake, they have a combined bounty of 329 million beri.”

“She really knows everything.” Muttered Ussop, while Drake narrowed his eyes at her. First someone able to use Soru, and now a strangely well-informed secretary… Her presence was tightly reigned in, in a way that had been done consciously. That, or she was really, really weak, and he doubted it. Robin and my joining of the StrawHats isn’t public knowledge. They had learned that much from the meeting with the pirate crew on Long Ring Long Land. She knows I can use haki, but is trying to deceive me anyway… That dress certainly isn’t regulation for the Marines, and she seems too familiar with Iceburg to have arrived in the last days… What is going on here?

“Mwell, I guess you are here to get your ship fixed?” Asked Iceburg.

“Iceburg-san, your afternoon is already filled with meetings, first with the director of-” Started to say Kalifa, obviously seeing that Iceburg was getting interested in something other than his job, but he cut her off.

“Cancel them all.”

“Very well.” She agreed, not even looking surprised.

“Just like that?” Shouted Ussop.

“I don’t want to work.” He pouted.

“We’re not here to get Merry repaired, even though your man left to check her, but more to buy a new one.” Explained Drake. “Kokoro wrote us a letter, she told us to give it to you.” It didn’t look like they would need it after all, but mentioning Kokoro might ensure the man wouldn’t let himself get dragged to meetings and helped them instead.

Iceburg took the paper, opened it and made a disgusted face before tearing it in half.

“What? Why are you doing that!” Shouted Ussop.

“She made a kiss mark on it.” Explained Iceburg. “Well, follow me to Dock 1, you can meet the others shipwrights there and I can show you the different models of ships we offer.”

Their journey toward Dock 1 was short and uneventful. Once there, they got introduced to the shipwrights of the Galley-La Company. One of them, a blonde man who had introduced himself as Paulie, had broken from the group currently working on a pirate ship to see what they were here for.

“You have blood on your knuckles.” Remarked casually Iceburg.

Paulie looked down, surprised, before laughing as he rubbed the back on his head. “Yeah, we’ve been getting a lot of pirates those last few days that thought they could try not to pay us.”

“You don’t have problems fighting off pirate crews?” Asked Usopp. They were planning to pay anyway since it wasn’t in their nature not to especially for something as important as their ship, so he wasn’t worried about their reaction, but it was surprising to learn that normal citizens were able to fight pirates.

“Oh, we’re used to it.” Answered Paulie. “Most pirates, and even a few marines, think that they can intimidate us into getting a discount. We learned quickly how to set them straight.”

“You must all be strong, then.” Commented Luffy, looking past him at the other shipwright, casually lifting beams of wood or metal that had to weigh several hundred kilos.

“That’s the Galley-La for you!” Paulie said, obviously proud. “We’re the best shipwrights in this half of the Grand Line, as well as the strongest.”

Nami and Sanji’s sudden arrival caused a bit of a ruckus, Nami almost floating on air in happiness.

“What did the bank say?” Asked Usopp.

“They tried to rip me off at first, but I eventually managed to make them give me the correct price! We got one billion and 330 million beri, boys!”

Drake let out an impressed whistle, Luffy and Usopp shouting in joy at his side.

“We’re only having half of the money here, apparently they didn’t have enough in the bank to give us everything at once.” Explained Sanji, dropping multiple briefcases at his feet. “Nami-san was so impressive when haggling...” He swooned. “We’re supposed to see directly with the Galley-La Company, something about a direct money transfer.”

“Mwell, that’d be me.” Said Iceburg. “I’m the president of the Galley-La. I suppose we should pass by the bank then, to make sure everything checks out.”

“What-” Stuttered Paulie, and they turned to look at him, staring red-faced at Nami with horror. “What is that outfit? How can you be so shameless as to show that much of your legs?”

Nami blinked in surprise, her gaze immediately going to Kalifa and her far shorter skirt.

“You as well, Kalifa! You shouldn’t be wearing such a sexy outfit-” He got interrupted as Sanji smashed a foot in his chest, sending him flying.

“How dare you tell Nami-san and this beautiful angel how to dress.” He spat out.

“We should go to their ship first, then lead them to one of the inside docks and pass by the bank on the way.” Proposed Kaku. Nami shrieked in surprise, whirling around.

“When did you get here?” She shouted.

“A minute ago.” He answered honestly, blinking innocently at her. “You should also keep a better eye on that money.”

Nami frowned at the heap of briefcases on the floor, Sanji nowhere to be seen. “Where did he go?”

Drake pointed behind him with a sigh, where Sanji and Paulie could be seen fighting against each other. Apparently Paulie was fighting with ropes that seemingly came out of nowhere. Drake was mostly sure that his powers didn’t come from a devil fruit, and that the guy just had a reserve of ropes under his clothes.

He wasn’t one for judging anyone’s clothing style, what with dressing entirely in leather.

“Honestly…” She sighed, before what Kaku had said registered. “Wait, why should we move Merry?”

“You’ve moored her on the edge of the island, at sea level.” He explained easily. “With the Aqua Laguna coming, you’ll need to move her if you don’t want her to get crushed. Unless you’re planning on leaving the island in the next couple of hours, but from what I’ve seen, she won’t be able to carry you much further.”

“What’s the Aqua Laguna? You mentioned it twice.” Asked Usopp, resolutely not thinking of the fact that his slight hope of repairing Merry had just been crushed.

The residents blinked in surprise at their cluelessness.

“Mwell, it’s the annual high tide.” Explained Iceburg. “It causes a flood in the island, totally engulfing the lower parts of the city. It’s strong enough to destroy a lot of buildings down there, which is why we’ve built havens on the highest part of the town, to make sure there are no casualties.”

“I’ve never heard of a tide that big.” Said Nami, shocked.

“It’s very impressive.” Said Kaku. “The waves are so huge, it looks like a tsunami is hitting the island.”

“And this happens every year?” Asked Luffy.

“Yes, and it will happen again tonight.” He warned them.

“Then, let’s make sure we have moved in time, right?” Asked Nami.

“Ah, I’m afraid that when Paulie gets involved in a fight, there isn’t much that can get him out of it.” Shrugged Kaku.

“Mwell, Lucci will take care of it.”

A man had dropped the beam he had been holding and was walking resolutely toward the two fighters. Just as Paulie sent another rope toward Sanji, he grabbed its end, stopping it dead.

“Stop fighting, koo koo.” Cooed Lucci’s pigeon.

“Did his pigeon just talk?” Whispered loudly Usopp.

Honestly, Drake had almost forgotten the probably-government-agent at his back with every oddity happening.

“Don’t get involved in my fight, Lucci!” Shouted Paulie, and with a snarl he threw the rope over his shoulder, dragging Lucci with it and sending him hurtling toward the floor.

Nami winced in pain preemptively, ready to see him crash against the ground, when Lucci landed on his hand, and his fall stopped at once.

“What?” Shouted Usopp.

Paulie tugged on the rope, but Lucci didn’t move. And that’s when Drake noticed. Lucci hadn’t just landed in a handstand. His fingers had broken through the ground.

He wasn’t sure even he was strong enough for something like that. Cracking or denting the ground with a punch, sure, but to break it that cleanly, only leaving behind five small indents where his fingers had been… It could possibly be haki, if Lucci had been fast enough that he hadn’t noticed when he had applied it, but he didn’t think so.

While most Marines only ever learned Soru and Geppo, he knew that Cipher Pol had more secret techniques, mostly fit for assassinations. Wasn’t there something about killing someone with just a finger? This was the third suspicious person they had met in only an afternoon, and maybe it was just paranoia, but after meeting Aokiji at the last island, he wasn’t sure that these people weren’t here to get them.

Chapter Text

The Galley-La had given them a catalog, had accompanied them to the Merry and then to the bank to give them the remaining gold, and after moving her to a more secure location so she wouldn’t get hurt by the Aqua Laguna, they finally had left them alone on their ship.

Chopper and Robin still weren’t back, but if they had gotten lost in a library it could take them hours to resurface. Drake wasn’t too worried about them for now, even if he would have preferred them to be here when he warned everyone of the government’s presence on the island.

“I think we have a problem.” He announced.

“Robin-chan isn’t here to taste the delicious drink I just made.” Agreed Sanji.

“Not that kind of problem.”

“Dumbass.”

Ignoring Zoro and Sanji fighting in the background -they had to get it out of their system- he continued. “I think that some of the men we saw working for the Galley-La were government agents.”

“Really?” Asked Nami, surprised. “They seemed nice enough when they brought us back.” She had bonded with Kalifa over how men viewed them, and how useless they could be when there wasn’t anyone to remind them that they had work to do. Apparently, Iceburg liked to ignore his responsibilities to do whatever he wanted, which reminded her of her captain.

“Didn’t they just agree to build us, a known pirate crew, a ship?” Questioned Usopp.

“I recognized the move Kaku-” He stopped at Luffy’s blank look, before correcting himself with a sigh. “Square Usopp. When he moved quickly and jumped off the roof, he used a technique that is usually known by Cipher Pol, the government spying agencies, as well as some Marines. I’m mostly sure Lucci used another of those secret techniques as well when he landed on his fingers.”

“Iceburg’s secretary seemed to know a lot about us.” Remembered Usopp before Drake could bring it up. “Do you think they’re here to arrest us?” He asked worriedly.

“They seemed to know each others rather well.” Contradicted Sanji. Lucci and Paulie had traded insults for the whole journey after Lucci had broken up their fight. Well, Lucci’s pigeon had.

“They did.” Agreed Drake slowly. It contradicted his theory that they must have been there to capture them. “This degree of familiarity, they must have been here for months, maybe years.”

“We’ll just have to beat them up if they try anything.” Shrugged Luffy.

“They’re supposed to be strong, right?” Asked Zoro, an interested glint in his eyes. “If they know those secret techniques.”

“Depends on which organization they belong to.” Drake corrected him. “I don’t think they’re Marines, so they’re probably government agents. Cipher Pol is divided into ten divisions, from zero to nine. The strongest, and most secretive ones are Cipher Pol nine and zero. If they’re part of those, then yes, they are strong. Arguably stronger than us.” He admitted. “The rest shouldn’t pose any problem to us, their real strength is in their number, and I doubt there are hundreds of agents on this island.”

Before they could discuss it any further, a distressed Chopper called out their name, jumping on Merry’s deck.

“I don’t know where Robin is.” He shouted in panic. “We were browsing the streets, and I got distracted for two minutes in a library and when I turned back, she wasn’t there anymore!”

“You lost Robin-chan?”

“Maybe she got lost.”

“Did you try following her scent?” Asked Usopp.

“I managed to follow it up to an empty alley, but she wasn’t here… And there was an unknown scent with her.” He told them.

“Maybe she got kidnapped.” Gasped Nami.

“She’s too smart for that.” Countered Zoro.

“Maybe those agents with the shipwrights tried to take her.” Said Luffy.

“Wouldn’t she have been able to defeat them anyway?” Asked Usopp.

“The pigeon guy broke concrete with his fingers. I don’t think I’d be able to break concrete just with my fingers, and I already kidnapped Robin once.” Countered Luffy.

“We didn’t kidnap her.” Sighed Drake. She had offered to tell them where the bomb was hidden in Alabasta, and Luffy had just chosen to make her show them instead. This wasn’t kidnapping.

“Do you think Aokiji is here?” Asked Nami in a whisper.

Drake swallowed heavily at the reminder of what kind of enemies he and Robin had. “He’s not- you don’t send an Admiral to kidnap people.” He protested.

“Maybe the government ordered him to after they learned that he saw her on the last island.” Suggested Usopp.

“I would have recognized his scent.” Said Chopper, shaking his head. “The person she was with was someone we haven’t met before, a male.” He turned his head to look at Luffy. “What government agents?”

“Oh, you weren’t with us! Apparently square-Usopp and some guy with a pigeon we encountered…” Started to explain Luffy.

“We need to go looking for her.” Decided Sanji. “Spread out around the island until we find where she is.”

“None of us can go alone.” Immediately shot back Drake. “We don’t know yet if she really got kidnapped, or if she got in other kinds of trouble.”

“Or if she got lost.” Muttered Zoro, but everyone ignored him.

“Even if the probable government guys don’t have anything to do with it, there are still other pirate crews out there that could try to attack her.” Agreed Nami.

“Or bounty hunters.” Added Zoro. “Her bounty isn’t anything to scoff at, and they might try to aim for her if they know our crew is here.” They had known that she was wanted before, and Drake had told the pirates on Long Island that she was worth 79 million.

“Especially since her picture hadn’t been updated since she was eight.” Silence fell after Drake’s comment, Chopper and Luffy’s discussion having ended.

“Eight?” Asked incredulously Usopp.

“She got her bounty before she was eight?” Shouted Nami.

Shit, they didn’t know. “Her epithet is literally Devil Child, how old did you think she was?” He asked them back.

“I never heard her epithet before!”
“We’ve never seen her bounty poster!”
“I can’t believe poor Robin-chan got her bounty as a child!”

“It doesn’t matter how long she had her bounty.” Interrupted Luffy before they could argue further. “If she’s in trouble, we need to go out now and help her.”

“Are we going in teams of two then ?” Asked Chopper.

“If someone is holding her against her will, we might have a fight on our hands. Anyone strong enough to defeat Robin might cause even our strongest fighters problems. We could do… Two teams of three? That would leave someone alone with Merry. Or maybe a team of two, a team of three, and two people staying here?” Proposed Nami.

“I’m going.” Said Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji at the same time.

“It’s my fault she disappeared, so I’m going as well.” Said Chopper

“Okay, that makes Luffy and Sanji in one team, Zoro and Chopper in the other.” Nodded Nami. “That way, we have at least one fast person in each team. I’ll go with Zoro and Chopper.” She decided.

“I’ll stay on Merry.” Said Drake. It wasn’t much of a choice, what with the three other strongest fighters going.

“Umm…” Hesitated Usopp.

“Maybe I should stay here… If we need to make a quick getaway, being already on board would hasten everything.” Started to think Nami.

“We need someone to make sure Zoro doesn’t get lost.” Countered Drake immediately.

“Ah, sure.” Luffy couldn’t be trusted not to get lost alongside Zoro, Chopper and Usopp weren’t headstrong enough to stop him if he tried to go in the wrong direction, and they couldn’t have Sanji and Zoro on the same team.

“I’m staying, then, right?” Asked Usopp. “Since we’re pretty sure we’re in danger, we can’t leave you alone with Merry. And those Galley-La guys know where we are.”

“You should go with Luffy and Sanji, even if it means Drake is alone.” Countered Zoro. “They don’t have a doctor, and if they find Robin and she’s hurt, it would mean that one of them would have to get her away from the fight, leaving the other alone.” He explained. “You’d be able to get her to safety while they both take care of whatever needs to be taken care of.”

“Ah true.” Nodded Usopp. “Wait, shouldn’t Drake go instead of you? What with his haki…”

“Haki is useless if she's unconscious. Even if she isn’t, if someone is holding her they’ll have her trapped in sea stone, which would weaken her enough that I wouldn’t sense her unless we’re in the same room. And we don’t know for sure if it's the Galley-La. They might have been here with another objective, who knows with those Cipher Pol guys. We can’t risk missing Robin because we’re too focused on them and it turns out they don’t have anything to do with it.”

“Okay, then that’s decided.” Said Luffy, looking at them. “Me, Sanji and Usopp will go… This way.” He decided, pointing up in one direction. “Zoro, Chopper, and Nami, that way. We’ll reunite when the night falls, or before if we find Robin.”

“Wait, let’s take the Dendens with us!” Shouted Usopp. “If we find Robin, we can either call the other group to tell them to come back or if we need Chopper he can reach us quickly that way.”

He quickly ran to the storage room, coming back with a Denden Mushi in each hand. “Here.” He held out his hand in the direction of the second group.

“Zoro, take it, that way you can call someone if you’re lost.” Decided Nami.

“I don’t get lost-” He started to protest, but she turned her back to him, nodding resolutely at the rest of the crew.

“Let’s find our missing archeologist.”

~~One Piece~~

Drake stilled from where he was sitting, reading one of Nami’s books on navigation, as he felt two presences approach the ship. They weren’t familiar, not exactly, and he would have remembered being close to someone that strong, but there was something about them he had felt before…

He jumped to his feet, letting a hand casually fall down to his axe as he scanned the dock where they had moved the Merry. It had been entirely deserted except for him, this particular dock only used for storing the small boats the Yagara Bulls were dragging during the day. It had one open wall, giving him a good view of the, for now peaceful, ocean, and a roof to protect the boats from the rain. They were high enough that they weren’t risking the Aqua Laguna reaching them. It also meant that they were high enough that jumping off the dock toward the city below was inadvisable, and he’d only end up with broken legs if he attempted to.

He forced his body into a casual, friendly stance when the two newcomers entered the room, blocking his only mean of getting out of there.

“What can I do for you Galley-La workers?” He asked.

This was bad. They had to have been restricting their presence earlier, which was smart given the number of pirates and Marines that passed through Water Seven and might be able to sense them, but now that they were no longer bothering he could say without a doubt that he was facing people from either CP9 or CP0. Two against one, he didn’t like his chances, especially since it meant that they had something to do with Robin’s disappearance.

The youngest of the two -Kaku, he remembered, the other one was Lucci, he had been right in suspecting them- took a few steps closer, letting his teammate block the door, and smiled at him with an earnest smile, so sincere that Drake was taken aback.

“Oh, there is no need for you to act like we don't all have an idea of who the others are. Let’s not waste time, uh?”

“I knew there was something wrong with you two. Showing those secret techniques in front of a former Marine isn’t the best way to keep your cover. Am I right in thinking that you’re the ones holding Robin, Cipher Pol?” There was no point in trying to stall, the rest of the crew wouldn’t be back any time soon, and they had taken the only two Dendens the crew owned. Even if they hadn’t, he doubted that the agents in front of him would have left him the opportunity to pass a call. They were far too sure of themselves for this fight to be in his favor. And this wasn’t cockiness, he could tell that they were accomplished fighters.

“Don’t worry, you’ll see her again quickly.” Said Kaku in a reassuring voice.

“I’m sure I will.” Either he lost and got taken to where she was, or he won and forced them to reveal where she was being held. He jumped off Merry’s deck, no need to have her get hurt unnecessarily in this fight, and snapped his two weapons to the side, raising an eyebrow behind his mask. “Shall we?”

Lucci scoffed at that, more sound than he had produced during the whole afternoon, which told him that his muteness definitely was for show, and then Kaku attacked and Drake put all his attention in the current fight.

Kaku barely shifted his weight on one side, almost unnoticeable if you didn’t know to look for the foretells of an upcoming attack, and sent two quicks Rankyaku toward Drake, who dodged the first one and parried the second with his sword. He couldn’t help but grimace at the strength behind the wind blade. Being hit by something like that without haki would definitely hurt, probably even break bones for most people.

Kaku looked faintly interested by the fact that he had blocked it so easily.

“My turn.” Drake’s eyes flickered toward Lucci, who could only be the source of this new voice, his attention still mostly on Kaku, not wanting to get taken by surprise if this was a strategy to distract him.

Lucci moved so quickly that Drake didn’t see the attack coming, no warning at all in his posture beforehand. Drake once again angled his sword to block the flying kick and grunted in surprise as it sent him skidding against the floor for a few meters, the muscles of his arms bulging at the sudden strength he had to exert to keep his sword from hitting him.

Fuck. And Kaku was the one who wanted to fight him first? He had no doubt that he would end up winning over the smaller redhead, if only because he was fighting for his freedom, but should Lucci enter the fight at any time…

“Will you stop playing with my food?” Asked mildly Kaku, turning his head to pout at Lucci.

Drake didn’t let them any more time to test their strength against his, sheathed his sword, and immediately transformed into his Allosaurus form. He wouldn’t be able to maintain his haki while faced with two persons, but his scales would give him additional protection should he get hit, and ancient zoans were so rare that he doubted they had faced any before, giving him an edge for a few minutes until they adjusted. Hopefully long enough to defeat Kaku and make this fight fairer in a one on one against Lucci, or to run away if they ever gave him the opportunity. He wasn’t above getting help from Luffy and Sanji, or Zoro, to make sure to get out of this intact. He had Robin to think of as well.

Kaku didn’t seem perturbed by the change, grabbing the sword that had been strapped to his back and launching himself into the fight with all the enthusiasm of someone who hadn’t had a good fight in months. His scales were enough to soften Kaku’s blows, but the agent's keen eyes were already analyzing him, and his attacks soon became targeted at the softer part of Drake’s anatomy. One particularly well-aimed Shigan -I knew they had the ability to kill someone with just one finger!- hit him in the soft skin hidden under his arms and would have hit some important organ if Drake hadn’t moved back at the last second.

I’m too slow in this form, he’s getting the advantage… A quick glance to the side told him that Lucci wouldn’t give him an opportunity to run. Drake took a step to the side to evade yet another attack, using the small instant of protection it gave him to change back into his hybrid form. Kaku was already on him before he could grab his weapons, so he blocked the sword strike with his clawed left hand, using his right to grab the axe hanging from his left side and smash the handle into Kaku’s plexus. The agent gasped in pain but didn’t let it distract him, moving smoothly to avoid Drake’s next blows.

“End this now, or I will.” Came the passive voice of Lucci.

“You’re so lame. Let me have my fun-”

Lucci was suddenly upon them, too quickly for Drake to do more than reflexively slash in his direction, Lucci deviating the sword away from him with his palm.

“Shigan”

The fingers dug deep into his guts. The pain and shock were enough to make him fall forward as he coughed up blood, and Lucci easily caught him, his free hand grabbing Drake’s wrist, uncaringly of the scales digging into his skin, the other twisting the finger deeper in his body.

Kaku came from behind, kicking the axe out of his hand as he sneaked one arm around Drake’s throat and squeezed.

“Not when your fun means we’re risking missing the train.” Said Lucci calmly, as if he didn’t have part of his hand inside Drake’s body. “We still have work to do after that.” He added as he sharply removed his finger, making Drake jerk instinctively. His struggles renewed now that he wasn't risking more internal damage, but Kaku’s grip on him was too strong, and Lucci still had a steel grip on the hand holding his sword.

He hadn’t had the time to take a breath before and he soon slowed down, until he slumped against Kaku’s body, unconscious.

~~One Piece~~

“I still say you should have picked up the direction that didn’t make us come back here so soon.” Panted Usopp as he jogged next to Sanji and Luffy.

“Someone had to check this part of the town, and I don’t trust Zoro not to miss something.” Answered Sanji.

“Zoro’s with Nami, I’m sure they’re all right.”

“And that way we’ll see if Robin didn’t just come back on her own.” Added Luffy, ignoring Sanji’s despairing cry that he wasn’t the one hanging out with Nami-san.

Sanji kicked the door of the dock open, barely slowing down.

“Robin-chan, are you here?”

“Hey, Drake, did anything happen… Drake?” Called out Usopp.

Luffy dragged himself aboard the Merry. “He’s not here.” He said as he checked quickly inside the men’s bedroom and the kitchen.

“Where did he go? He wouldn’t just leave like that…” Wondered Usopp.

“Uh oh.” Muttered Sanji, looking down into the water. “Guys.”

Luffy and Usopp joined him curiously, only to stop suddenly when they saw what Sanji had noticed.

Drake’s sword and axe were resting at the bottom of the canal, carelessly thrown there.

“It’s not good.” Said Sanji, his eyes finally taking in the small marks left behind by the fight -the traces on the floor where Drake and Kaku had slid, the impact on the wall from a dodged Rankyaku. “What do we do?” He asked Luffy.

Luffy stayed silent, his eyes tracking Usopp’s moves as he plunged his arm into the water to retrieve Drake’s weapons. “Call Zoro.” He ordered after a few seconds. “I want everybody back here as soon as possible. Someone is attacking my crew, and we’re not going to let them.”

Chapter Text

“Call Zoro.” Luffy ordered after a few seconds. “I want everybody back here as soon as possible. Someone is attacking my crew, and we’re not going to let them.”

It had been a few tense minutes why they waited for the second half of the crew to come back. Sanji had preferred to tell them to return as soon as possible instead of explaining over the Denden that a member of their crew had disappeared. Again.

“What are we going to do?” Asked Nami, hugging herself, her nails biting into the skin of her arms.

“Our best bet are the Galley-La workers.” Said Usopp.

“We should have started with them.” Sighed Sanji.

“Drake said it, we couldn’t be sure they had anything to do with Robin’s disappearance, and their headquarters is on the other side of the island anyway, it was better to work our way up to there.”

“Yeah, Drake said it, and now he’s missing.” Snapped Zoro. “Because I keep making the wrong fucking choice.” He whirled around and punched the wall in anger. This is the second time someone got hurt because they were alone on Merry, and this time it’s entirely my fault. I should never have convinced Usopp that it was a good idea to leave Drake behind on his own.

“Zoro…” Murmured Nami.

“Hey.” Luffy immediately commanded the attention of everyone in the room. He met their gaze with his determined one, ending on Zoro. “We’re going to get them back, alright?” Zoro met his eyes unflinchingly for a minute before he finally nodded. “So, let’s go ask those shipwrights if they know anything, and if they don’t we’re going to beat up every pirate and marine and bounty hunter on the island until one of them tells us where our friends are.”

He was met with nods of agreement.

“Alright.” Muttered Nami. “I’ve gone to the bank first before going to the docks, so I don’t know where the headquarters are. Unless they’re near the docks?” She asked, turning toward Usopp and Luffy.

“No, they’re further away, really on the opposite side of the island.” Said Usopp. “I’d know how to get there from Dock 1, but that’s only using the canals, which is impossible since the Yagara Bulls have stopped working this late. They’re very slow anyway.”

“There’s a sort of scrapyard on the outside of the island.” Told them Chopper. “I’ve seen it from afar while shopping. I’m sure it spans a huge part of the shore. If we follow it we wouldn’t have to try to make our way inside the city. It’s a detour, but we would end up winning time.” With the night starting to fall they would lose the few landmarks they had picked out. With the way the city was layered, it was easier to go in a straight line from the coast to the middle than try to cross it horizontally.

“Good thinking, Chopper.” Said Nami. “Even if it’s not the quickest route, it’s better that we don’t risk getting lost while trying to find their headquarters.” She explained, turning toward Luffy to get his approval.

He nodded, trusting his crewmates to know what they were talking about. “Sure. Lead us, Chopper.”

~~One Piece~~

What Chopper had noticed wasn’t really a scrapyard. Most of the shore constituted of a mix between sandy beaches and more rocky coasts, but there were spots clearly dedicated as dumping grounds for broken ship parts. It was luckily accessible from where Merry had been stashed, with only a couple of passages where Luffy had had to use his powers to get them across a canal as the pedestrian path stopped suddenly. From there they had a very good view of the city from the outside, which would ensure that they would see the Galley-La headquarters even with the sunset casting long shadows and hiding most details of the buildings.

Nami would have liked to have the time to learn more about the Aqua Laguna, not wanting to be taken by surprise when the uncommon phenomenon occurred. However, seeing that the ocean had retreated far away from the island, enough that even though the place where they were running had been very close to its level when they had reached the city they could currently barely see it on the horizon, had been enough to bring the point home that the tide would be big. The shipwrights hadn’t exaggerated when they had told them to put Merry this high up into the island if they wanted to keep her protected.

They were definitely running around in a part of the island that would get flooded once the tide came back, and it only added stress to the whole situation, well aware that they were on borrowed time if they wanted to get to the Galley-La headquarters before the Aqua Laguna hit.

It was why the crew was jogging at a high pace, Usopp and Nami sitting on Chopper’s back not to slow them down. They would have been unable to keep the rhythm for long since it was very close to what constituted a sprint for them both. And the others had been running that fast for more than ten minutes.

“There are people ahead.” Warned Sanji. He was running in front of the group since he was the fastest of them all. Zoro and Chopper were in the middle and Luffy was closing the group, not wanting to let anyone out of his sight. He usually wasn’t the kind of person that kept a close eye on his crew, but right now the circumstances made it so he didn’t want to risk them getting separated.

“Shipwrights?” Asked Zoro.

“No.” Answered Usopp, squinting to see in the evening light. “Or weirdly dressed ones.” He amended.

Chopper sniffed the air a few times. “I smell blood.”

“Maybe they’ve seen something.” Said Luffy.

“Or they were part of the group that tried to attack Drake and paid for it.” Countered Sanji. There had been small traces of blood on the ground where Drake had faced whoever had tried to attack him, but not enough for it to come from a big injury. There was little chance that Chopper would still smell blood after so much time if they came across his assailants.

By mutual agreement, they slowed down as they neared the unknown group.

“Everything alright?” Called out Zoro, one hand on Wado’s hilt. Usopp and Nami jumped off Chopper’s back, taking defensive positions behind their strongest fighters.

“We got attacked…” Answered a young woman, clearly dazed. Blood was still leaking from a wound on her face. Her hair was styled in a square around her head, her eyes hidden behind yellow glasses that did little to hide the lost look she sported.

“The Galley-La workers, they just… They attacked us, and then kidnapped our boss.” Explained a similar woman, her lack of glasses and her wavy hair the only differences between the two, as she gently dabbed at the wound of the first one.

“So it was them.” Muttered Sanji, chewing through his cigarette.

“You know them?” Asked a man, broken goggles holding his dark hair back. “We’ve always tried not to pick fights with the Galley-La, and then they just come and destroy our house…”

“Two of our friends have been kidnapped as well.” Answered Luffy.

“One of them told us he thought that some of the Galley-La workers were strange before disappearing.” Added Usopp. “We weren’t sure if they were responsible, but now that you’ve seen them…”

“Why would they kidnap people from your crew as well as boss Franky ?”

“Well.” Answered hesitantly Nami. “Drake was a former Marine, so if those guys really work for the government I can see why they’d target him, and Aokiji seemed weirdly interested in Robin…”

“Robin?” Asked one of the women, ignoring her sister mouthing ‘Aokiji’ at her side.

“Nico Robin.” Elaborated Luffy.

The three exchanged looks.

“Do you know anything?” Asked Zoro, an edge of a threat in his tone.

“Hey, we’re in the same boat.” Said the first woman, her hand spreading to the side in a universal placating gesture. “But… Mozu, Zambai, didn’t boss Franky mention the name Nico Robin before?”

Mozu nodded earnestly, before her face scrunched up in pain as nausea hit her. “You’re right, Kiwi. He mentioned her very rarely, but he was scared of her.” She explained.

“He was always uncomfortable when her name appeared in the newspaper.” Added Zambai.

The Straw Hats glanced at each other.

“Drake said she got her bounty when she was eight, maybe she and this Franky guy knew each other when they were young.” Suggested Sanji.

“It doesn’t matter why they got taken.” Said Luffy. “We’re going to beat the Galley-La guys until they tell us where our friends are. Want to join us?”

“Of course!” Immediately agreed Zambai. “But, we still have wounded members, and Sodom and Gomorrah have been hurt as well…” He hesitated.

“We’re going to need to move up quickly before the Aqua Laguna can reach us anyway.” Countered Kiwi. They had been in the middle of their planning when they had been attacked, and now they were in danger of getting drowned.

“The Kairikis can make sure everyone else is safe, we’re going to save our boss Franky!” Added Mozu.

“Then let’s go!” Decided Luffy.

~~One Piece~~

Luffy frowned up at the Galley-La headquarters. The place seemed to be empty, none of the lights being on. He hoped they hadn’t gotten there uselessly.

“Think there is anyone here?” Asked Usopp.

“We’ll see quickly.” Answered Sanji, one powerful kick bending the iron door, a second sending it flying away.

“Can’t you… I don’t know, sense anything?” Without Drake around, Sanji was the only one who had a somewhat consistent grip on his haki. Luffy seemed unable to use it when he wasn’t in a fight and even then it was hard to determine if it was haki or just his instincts that allowed him to dodge so often, and the others hadn’t unlocked it yet.

“I still need to meditate a bit before a fight if I want to be able to dodge attacks, and my ability to sense people’s aura, or whatever it is, only work with a short range.” He explained. He still felt that he was progressing too slowly with his haki, no matter how much Drake told him that he was improving at a quick rate. Today had only hammered home that he needed observation haki. He had been able to do without armament, even if Zoro and Luffy getting better at it meant that they needed far fewer hits to defeat him than usual. But with his speed, his ability to dodge was only enhanced by observation, and it was the second time that day that he would have liked being able to detect people from far away.

“I hope they’re inside.” Murmured Nami, and she could feel Chopper nod at her side. If this lead didn’t pan out, they’d have no idea of where they should go, and she could feel the wind pick up, a clear sign that the water would soon come back and the Aqua Laguna really starts. At that point, it would be too dangerous to be outside. Not that it would slow down anyone in her crew, but she knew better than anyone how dangerous the weather could get.

“Anyone here?” Shouted Luffy at the top of his lungs.

“Shh!” Hissed Usopp. “Don’t warn them that we’re coming!”

“Wait.” Snapped Sanji, one hand shooting out to the side to stop everyone from moving. “I’ve heard something.” They waited in tense silence for a few seconds, before Usopp looked toward Nami, who shook her head negatively at him, as she hadn’t heard anything.

“Drake? ROBIN?” Sanji shouted. He threw a hesitant look toward the three members of the self-identified Franky Family. “Franky?”

“I heard it as well!” Exclaimed Chopper in the following seconds.

“That way.” Said Sanji, breaking into a sprint.

The scene they reached when they opened the door wasn’t what they were expecting. There were unconscious bodies on the floor, some lying in a pool of their own blood. Iceburg was leaning against a wall, one arm holding his ribs tightly, a bruise blossoming over his face.

“Ah… The Straw Hats pirates…” He panted weakly. His unfocused gaze moved to Kiwi and Mozu, and he frowned in recognition. “And Franky friends… You called for him, is it too late?”

“Franky got kidnapped, by some of your workers.” Zambai answered, his gaze coming back to the carnage.

“We got betrayed. Lucci, Kaku, Blueno… Kalifa.” Explained Iceburg with a grimace of pain as Chopper moved his arm and started to check his breath. “They are Cipher Pol Nine, government agents.”

“Blueno?” Repeated Mozu, surprised. His bar was a favorite of everyone in the city, they often went there to drink.

Sanji walked further into the room, kneeling next to recognizable blonde hair. “Oi, Paulie, wake up.” He said lowly, checking his pulse and shaking his shoulder. Paulie coughed weakly before struggling to move. He started to cough up blood as soon as Sanji helped him get to the side. “Did Lucci do that to you?” He asked, seeing holes in his torso, shaped as if someone had stabbed him with their hand to try to grab his ribs. Given what they had seen Lucci do earlier, it matched.

“Did they say anything?” Asked Nami, kneeling next to Iceburg “Two of our friends got kidnapped as well, Nico Robin and Diez Drake.”

“I only saw Nico Robin. She was with Cipher Pol.”

“What?”
“She wouldn’t…”

“She is the one who shot me there.” Iceburg said coldly, gesturing toward a gunshot wound to his side that Chopper hadn’t started treating yet. Nami fell silent at that, looking uncertainly at him.

“If they got both her and Franky, then it’s over.” He murmured, slouching back against the wall in defeat.

“Do you know why they are interested in Franky?” “Do you know where they went?” Asked Kiwi and Zoro at the same time.

“They came looking for some document that only Nico Robin could read.” Explained Paulie. Iceburg went to protest, but Paulie talked over him. “No! I won’t keep quiet, they betrayed us, hurt us, I’m not letting them go without getting revenge!” He turned back toward the Straw Hats, leaning gratefully into Sanji’s hand on his shoulder to stay upright. “They thought we had that document, but Iceburg had given it to Franky years ago, and those… Traitorous bastards deduced it. That’s why they went for him. They’re going to go to Enies Lobby now, and we have to stop them before they leave the island.”

“And Drake?” Wondered Usopp.

“Explains why he lost.” Muttered darkly Zoro. “If Robin attacked him…”

“If Robin had attacked him by surprise, she would have been able to take him down without a fight.” Countered immediately Nami. “I don’t know why…” Her eyes flickered to Iceburg, unable to deny that he had been shot and she didn’t think he was lying when he said Robin had been responsible, before she refocused them on Zoro angrily. “I don’t know why she did that, but I know she wouldn’t have betrayed us.”

“Drake mentioned CP9, and he said they were strong.” Reminded them Luffy. “Robin wouldn’t have hurt anyone without a good reason, but if those guys are stronger than her and stronger than Drake, then maybe she didn’t want to.”

“What’s Enies Lobby?” Asked Zoro, not wanting to debate with them over whether Robin had betrayed them or not. He was still suspicious of her, but she had stuck to the crew in Skypiea at moments where she could have tried to protect herself instead, and he would give her the benefit of the doubt until they learned for sure that she was a traitor. They needed to find her to know that. “Wait, no, where are they right now?” That was more important than their destination.

“Enies Lobby is a government island. Once she reaches it, you won’t have any chance of ever seeing her, or any of your friends, ever again.” Explained weakly Iceburg. “With the Aqua Laguna minutes away from starting, the only way to go there is through the Sea Train, no ship can survive at sea right now. They’ll be there, if they haven’t already left.”

“We’ll get her, and Drake and your friend Franky back, even if we have to go to that Enies Lobby island.” Said Luffy, fire in his eyes.

“We need to be quick.” Warned Nami, looking at the weather outside. “The biggest waves haven’t reached us yet, but they soon will, and if they leave by train it will be any minute now.”

“Uh…” Hesitated Chopper, looking at all the victims around him, hesitating between his duty as a doctor and his loyalty as a Straw Hat pirate.

“We’ll take the first aid over from here.” Decided Mozu.

“You bring back our boss Franky as well, alright ?” Ordered Kiwi.

“Of course we will.” Nodded Luffy, before breaking one window with his elbow and jumping through it.

“What- doors, stairs-” Started to shout Nami, crying out in surprise as Sanji grabbed her and lifted her bridal style before following Luffy out of the window. Zoro followed suit, Usopp thrown unceremoniously over his shoulder and Chopper grabbing the side of his head.

Paulie closed his eyes in pain as Mozu started to slowly check on his wounds, not even bothering to chew her out about her clothes. “The others?” He asked. Zambai shook his head sadly as he went around the room and found some workers that would never wake up again. The rest was slowly starting to come around, groans of pain filling the area. “Most only were here because they needed a safe place during the Aqua Laguna…” He sighed sadly. He had stayed because he had seen how tense Iceburg had been, even if he hadn’t learned why until Robin revealed herself and Cipher Pol asked them about the plans for Pluton. An ancient weapon. My boss and closest friend had known where the plans to build an ancient weapon were located for years and never acted like there was anything wrong. The betrayal stung, but less than Lucci and Kaku's had.

“They’re not going to make it.” Said Iceburg.

“They have to.” Immediately shot back Kiwi.

“Honestly, I think they’re going to try to reach Enies Lobby swimming if the bastards have already left.” Chuckled weakly Paulie. “They seemed determined enough.”

Iceburg looked at him before he sighed. “I don’t know any way of stopping a moving train, but I might have something that will help them in case they don’t reach the train station in time.”

~~One Piece~~

Reaching the train station from the ground would take too long. Luckily, it was lower than the Galley-La Company headquarters, and they had no problem using the roofs to go as quickly as possible. Usopp had seen that the sea train was still at the station when they had left, but halfway through he had shouted in panic as he saw it start to pull out.

“It’s too far for me to Rocket there.” Panted Luffy as he put in another burst of speed.

“We need to get onto this train, no matter what it takes.” Answered Sanji as he followed his captain. A quick glance behind told him that only he and Zoro had been able to follow his new speed, Chopper having been slowed down too much by having to lift Usopp and Nami. Plans shot quickly through his head, just as quickly discarded, until… “Luffy.” He said, his tone of voice immediately getting the other two’s attention. “Send me and the mosshead as close to the train as possible. I’ll make sure at least he reaches it.”

It was a statement of the trust they held in each other that no one questioned him, Luffy sending his arms forward as far as he was able and grabbing the corners of two buildings, skidding to a stop. He moved back a few steps and let his body fall back toward the street for additional momentum.

“What are you doing?” Shouted Nami as Luffy let his body snap forward, ramming into Zoro and Sanji at the same time and sending the three of them flying toward the sea. Luffy quickly lost height, falling into the waves beneath them, while Sanji and Zoro continued flying.

Not far enough for me. Immediately noticed Sanji as he twisted his body mid-air. Zoro moved as well, crouching over his bent leg, and with a powerful kick Sanji sent him hurtling toward the train. Please tell me he reached it. He pleaded.

The last thing he saw before getting swallowed by the waves was Zoro grabbing the ledge of the train.

Chapter Text

The last thing Sanji saw before getting swallowed by the waves was Zoro grabbing the ledge of the train.

“Sanji, thanks the seas.” Muttered Nami as Sanji grabbed her outstretched hand.

She had been kneeling over the edge of the pier for the last few minutes, since Luffy had rocketed away from her and toward the sea train and the raging ocean, and promptly disappeared behind the waves.

She had been terrified when she had lost sight of her captain, knowing that she was too far away to do anything and that he didn’t have any chance of getting out of the ocean alive on his own. Then Sanji had fallen in as well, and only the knowledge that he was the better swimmer of the crew, and that she would only risk drowning if she tried to join him inside the sea, had prevented her from jumping into the sea.

She kept a hold on Sanji’s arm as Usopp knelt next to her, grabbing Luffy’s from the blonde’s hold and dragging him up on solid ground. Luffy immediately started throwing up water, spluttering as he tried to take deep breaths.

“Let’s get away from the ocean.” Muttered Usopp, hoisting Luffy’s still mostly unresponsive body onto Chopper’s back.

“Zoro?” Asked Nami worriedly. The sea train had been too far away to see clearly in the falling night, and it was only thanks to Sanji’s bright hair color that she had managed to see him falling into the ocean.

“I saw him grab the sea train.” Reassured her Sanji. He coughed, wincing as water shot out of his lungs, burning his throat.

“Are you alright?” Asked Chopper, recognizing the sound and turning his head toward them worriedly.

“I’m alright, just swallowed a little water.” Sanji brushed him off. Swimming in the middle of a stormy sea wasn’t something on his to-do list, but given Luffy’s habit of falling overboard at the worst possible time, he had experience. The weather had never been as awful as now, though, and he had struggled to maintain the two of them afloat when hit with waves taller than him.

“Does Zoro still have his Denden with him?” He asked.

“He should.” Answered Nami, thinking back. She didn’t remember him dropping it off anywhere, and they didn’t have any time to waste in those last few hours.

“So he’s alone on the train?” Asked Usopp, biting his lip in worry. “They’ve managed to defeat Drake and Robin, wouldn’t it have been better to wait to make sure he’s not alone?”

“Right now, he’s our best bet in getting them back.” Answered Sanji. “We have no idea how long it will take for us to join them, so it was better that at least one of us was on this train.”

“He should at least slow them down.” Added Nami.

“Is it a good idea? In this weather? Both Robin and Drake are Devil Fruit users.” He reminded them.

“If it comes down to it, I’m sure he’d carry them back here on his back.” Said Luffy, jumping off Chopper’s back now that he had found his breath again.

“Who knows, maybe he’ll find a way to turn the train around on the tracks.” Joked weakly Nami. “But, frankly, I don’t think even him would be able to find a way to stop the train from reaching Enies Lobby without risking everyone’s life in this storm.”

“So, you are still planning on reaching Enies Lobby?” Asked Iceburg, walking slowly toward them. He had put his bloodied shirt back on over his bandages, and the bruise on his face had already turned black, forcing one of his eyes into a half-closed state. His presence meant that Mozu and Kiwi hadn’t wasted any time in taking care of the Galley-La workers

One of the shipwrights was walking behind him, naked torso covered in bandages, holding a rifle over his shoulder and eyes alert. They had obviously not wanted to let Iceburg go anywhere alone. While it was understandable given that an attempt on his life had just been made, said attempt had taken place with the majority of the Galley-La in the building. One lone worker wouldn’t be enough to prevent anything.

“Of course. We’re not going to stop until we have our friends back.” Answered Luffy matter of factly.

“I had anticipated that you would say that.” Iceburg admitted.

“Do you know how we could leave the island? No ship will survive going out on the sea right now.” Said Nami, wincing as a particularly big wave crashed against the wall below them. About a quarter of the island was already flooded, and the water kept on rising and swallowing more of the city. There was a reason everyone had retreated to the upper half of the island.

“That’s why you’re not going to leave on a ship. The other shipwrights already went ahead to make sure you’ll be able to travel.”

“Not on a ship?” Nami repeated.

“The Puffing Tom isn’t the first sea train that was created on Water Seven. The first functioning prototype ever built was the Rocketman, and he’s waiting inside of one of our less used warehouses. He hasn’t been used in years, but we’ll have him ready to go in no time.”

~~One Piece~~

Zoro grunted as he pulled himself up on the roof. He had barely managed to grab onto it and hadn’t wanted to risk holding on with only one hand, which had prevented him from getting inside the train by cutting one of its walls. It had forced him to climb up on top, which hadn’t been particularly difficult, even if the constant battering of the waves had almost made him slip twice.

Now safer on the roof, he easily found his footing and looked around. He was at the back of the train, they had almost been too late to get him aboard. He debated for a second whether it would be better to try to reach the front immediately by staying on top, or if he should enter the vehicle and go through the wagons one by one looking for his disappeared crew members and the Cipher Pol agents that had taken them. He decided after a moment that he had no way of knowing if they were being kept at the front, and it would be ridiculous if he lost time getting to the first wagon, only to have to cross them all and find his crewmates at the back of the train.

He easily cut through the roof and fell inside the car, taking by surprise a few agents. Sadly, there was no one he recognized, meaning no CP9 agents or crewmates, and no one seemed to be a prisoner like Franky was. The agents, for they didn’t wear Marine outfits but black suits, seemed too shocked by his entrance to react. After a few seconds, he was starting to feel second-hand embarrassment for how long it took them to react in any way when finally something moved in the wagon.

“What do we have here?” He turned around to see… A giant. Well, the man was too small to be from the same species as Dorry and Brogy but was so far above average human height that he could only be part giant. He was folded in half to fit inside the wagon, in a way that didn’t look comfortable at all. “I am Jerry, of CP6, and I will defeat you, intruder!”

Six. Not a real threat, then. Thought Zoro. Still… “Cipher Pol, eh? I’m looking for two of my friends, Nico Robin and X Drake. Do you know where they are being held ?”

“I wouldn’t tell you if I knew! But you will not get past me, for I am a boxing champion from Karate Island, and no one-”

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t have the time for this.” He had no doubts that the others would find a way to join him. Luffy wouldn’t let something as unimportant as the weather stop him, and Nami and Usopp together would probably be able to cobble an upgrade to her clima-tact that would force the sea to calm down, if given half an hour and enough incentive. He wanted to have at least found the others by then, if only because Sanji would never let him live it down if he hadn’t, but mostly because he wanted to see from his own eyes how Robin acted in the presence of Cipher Pol and she was much more likely to try to attack him, solidifying her stance as a traitor, if he was the only one here.

“If you don’t want to tell me where they are, fine, I’ll just find it by myself.” He grinned, his smile widening as his opponents flinched in the face of his bloodlust. Before anyone could try to attack him, he cut Jerry across the chess with barely a flick of his sword. The giant brought a hand up to his torso to try to stave off the blood flow, but fell unconscious from the attack quickly, folding on himself in an even weirder way as he collapsed.

“I don’t suppose any of you want to lead me to them?” The other agents, finally, shook off their shock, grabbing their guns and swords and jumping to attack him. “I said-” he spun around with his swords outstretched, cutting almost all of the agents at once. “-I don’t have the time for you weaklings!”

The few agents still conscious made the strategic choice to hide behind the seats and to stay out of his way, so he resolutely walked forward, toward the door that wasn’t being blocked by Jerry’s body.

Just as he opened the door, he had to dodge an incoming sword strike coming from the next wagon. The opposing swordsman overextended as his attack missed and as such didn’t have the time to reposition himself before Zoro cut him cleanly. This wagon seemed to be empty of any other agents, the only other occupant a blue-haired man, sitting on the floor, arms bound in front of him and a chain linking his feet together.

“Hey, you! Can you free me?”

“Franky?” Zoro asked. Some of the members of the Franky Family had stars on their clothes, and the same symbol could be seen on the man’s forearms.

“That’s right.” He answered, looking at Zoro with more suspicion.

“I met some of your friends. They were worried about you.” Admitted Zoro. “Hold your arms in front of you, I’m going to cut your chains.” He ordered.

“Really? My guys are fine?” Asked Franky, complying.

Zoro cut through both chains at once in one move. “They seemed alright.” Honestly, he hadn’t paid much attention to anyone outside of Mozu, Kiwi, and Zambai, who they had directly interacted with, but he didn’t think they would have acted the way they had if some of their friends had died.

“Thanks.” Said Franky sincerely, leaping to his feet and starting to stretch in every direction. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for my crewmates, Nico Robin and X Drake. They’ve been taken by the same group.” It was easier to explain that way than to say that maybe Robin had gone with them willingly. This wasn’t a detail he particularly wanted to share with an outsider, anyway.

“Nico Robin, eh.” Franky’s face twisted in some unnamed emotion that Zoro couldn’t quite identify but that definitely wasn’t positive.

“You’ve met her?” If she had attacked Iceburg and then had taken part in Franky’s kidnapping…

“Never face to face.” Answered Franky, cutting through his thoughts. “She’s a dangerous woman. You would be better without her.”

Zoro's jaw tightened in anger. He might be suspicious of her motives, but it didn’t mean it didn’t make him angry when everyone they met thought they could give him their opinion on Robin and tried to tell him who could join his crew. He had stopped listening to the opinion of people he didn’t respect when he was a kid, and he certainly wasn’t going to start again now.

“Well, I’m not going to let her go without fighting, and the rest of my crew will tell you the same. You’re free to get out of there on your own if you’re not interested in helping.” He said coldly.

Franky’s eyebrows rose at the sudden change in tone, but he didn’t let it deter him. “No matter what I think of her, I’d rather she not be in the hands of those bastards.”

“Then do you have an idea of where they might be kept? Since they’re not with you.”

“Probably with the CP9 guys. They didn’t deem me dangerous enough to keep a direct eye on me, but they’ll definitely not leave her alone or with weaker agents. You said they have another member of your crew?”

“Hmm. A former Marine.” There wasn’t any need to say more, it wasn’t hard to guess what the World Government’s stance on traitors was if you knew even a little about them. Even if he didn’t know Franky personally, there was no doubt that he was more aware than most about their inner workings, given that he had been arrested by secret agents.

“That’d explain it.” Nodded Franky. “Well, it’s that way. We’re in the sixth car, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re hiding in the first one, so we’ll have to fight our way through the entire train.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Zoro couldn’t help but grin a little and grab the hilts of his swords in anticipation of the upcoming challenge.

~~One Piece~~

“Rob Lucci, Sir!” Shouted an agent as he entered, out of breath, into the second wagon. The members of CP9 were all sitting here as well as Drake.

They had deemed him to be a flight risk when the first thing he did upon waking up was try to fight them off despite his restraints. From what he had gathered, the agents had some sort of hold over Robin to ensure her cooperation, and as such they weren’t bothering with keeping an eye on her. Since they hadn’t wanted for the two of them to be in the same car, she was alone in the first car while he was forced to share the second one with them.

His hands had been chained by sea stone behind his back, a chain linking his feet as well after he had tried to kick Kalifa out of a window. He had sadly not succeeded and had only gained a blow to the head that had given him a killer headache, as well as the opportunity to see Kalifa’s mastery of her spiked whip from up close.

The female agent’s attempt to make her attacks sound dirty had only added to his disgust at the situation.

“What is it.” Drawled Lucci, not even turning to look at the newcomer. From the way everyone seemed to defer to him, even the other CP9 agents following his lead, he had the uneasy feeling that Lucci was the Massacre Weapon of CP9. The crown jewel of the Cipher Pol agency, only outmatched by the members of CP Aegis 0.

It made him feel better about losing. Not many people could boast of having survived a fight against the legendary agent.

“There are intruders on the train! They have already defeated Captain T Bone and are currently in the fourth car. One of them is the prisoner, Franky, who has escaped.”

“Hmm.” Lucci made a small noise of annoyance.

“It’s sad how weak the other Cipher Pol teams are.” Sighed Kaku, kicking his feet on the table and leaning back further against the back of his seat.

“How many of them are there?” Asked Lucci.

“We’ve only detected one intruder, a green-haired swordsman.”

“Ah, the Pirate Hunter.” Said Kaku. He had met him shortly while he was looking up Merry to see if it was fixable, and then when they had brought back the crew to their ship.

“Do your best to stop them.” Ordered Lucci, dismissing the unnamed agent.

“Ah- Sir…” He protested, clearly having wanted them to go and take care of the threat before they lost any more people. He froze in his tracks as Lucci turned his head to the side, just enough to watch him from the corner of his eyes. “Of course.” He acknowledged, snapping a perfect salute before running out of the car.

Drake couldn’t stop the fond smile from forming on his face as the door snapped close.

“Something funny?” Asked Lucci.

“I’m just admiring the propensity of my crew to cause trouble everywhere they go.”

“They’re only taking out the trash.” Dismissed Lucci, unconcerned. “They’ll be stopped as soon as they clash with someone worth anything.”

~~One Piece~~

“That is disgusting.” Muttered Zoro, looking at the ramen that his opponent had just shot at him through his nose.

“These guys really are weird.” Agreed Franky.

Zoro couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Sanji wasn't in his place to face him. Fighting an opponent whose entire style seemed to be centered around wasting food? Sanji would have anihilated him.

Zoro would settle for defeating him, and if he cut him extra hard to make him pay for all that wasted food, no one would ever know.

“Well, I’m happy to leave him to you, I’m going forward.” Decided Franky.

“Sure, leave me with all the weirdos to fight.” Complained Zoro. First, the skeletal Marine, who had kept shouting in distress each time Franky and Zoro defeated one of his underlings, and who had ended up unconscious after throwing himself in the path of their attacks without shielding himself with his sword one time too many. And now, he had to face this guy who had one day woken up, looked at a plate of pasta, and decided that it would make a fine weapon.

Said guy kept trying to hit Zoro with his nose-ramens, shooting them at an ever-increasing speed.

“Honestly, can’t you see this isn’t going to work?” He called out. Franky had already bypassed his opponent, who hadn’t seemed to notice him, and now the man was only keeping Zoro away from the real fun by forcing him to stay in place and cut the pasta as it attacked him.

“You are right, it isn’t enough. But I will defeat you in one hit, after making my invincible pastarmor!”

Zoro sighed in disbelief, eyebrows rising as the man started to surround his body with pasta.

“Please tell me you’re not the guy who defeated Drake.”

“Now, if you try to hit my pastarmor, you will get stuck and unable to move.” His opponent shouted proudly.

“If I try to… Hit it. Right. I’ll be on my way, then.” Ramen-guy tried to attack him with his ramen-arms, and Zoro easily cut through it, quickly going up toward his body, defeating him with a slash that cut through his armor.

“Only three cars left.” He muttered to himself.

Chapter Text

Zoro ducked as he entered the third car, a wind blade passing just above his head.

Franky was facing a man that looked different from every other enemy they had faced until now, since he wasn’t wearing a marine uniform or a black suit. The deep v-neck on his short-sleeved t-shirt highlighted the amount of jewelry he wore. Necklaces, bracelets as well as a pair of large gold earrings glinting with his every move. As if it didn’t create enough easily grabbable spots that any decent fighter could exploit, he was also wearing a large fedora with a red plume as large as his head hanging off of it on the side.

“Trouble?” Zoro asked. The man didn’t look like much, but he was the first person who looked different, which had to mean something.

“Neko here-”

“Nero!” Shouted the man. “I told you, I’m Nero the Sea Weasel.”

“-is apparently a member of CP9.”

“Really?” Asked Zoro, giving him a second look as his interest was caught. “Were you the one that defeated Drake?”

Nero sighed. “Sadly, this task fell to the other agents. They couldn’t close their undercover mission in four years, and now they’re being rewarded by getting the credit for capturing Nico Robin and some marine reject?”

Capturing Nico Robin, uh. Then again, the dumbass had just called Drake a Marine reject, so it didn’t look like he knew what he was talking about.

“But I'll get the credit for defeating you! And maybe even get them in trouble for your escape in the first place.” He added with a head tilt toward Franky, before shifting his weight to the side, clearly preparing an attack.

“Care-” Started to warn Zoro, but the agent was faster than he had expected, sending another one of those wind attacks. He immediately reevaluated his threat level; even if he looked to be unable not to telegraph his attacks, he was still a member of CP9 and fast enough to take him by surprise. Franky reacted too slowly to be able to dodge the attack, turning at the last moment to face it head-on.

Zoro couldn’t help but wince as the wind blade struck its target. He was perfectly aware of how much potential it had to hurt. Sure, the blade wasn’t as strong as it could have been had it be created by a sword, and certainly wasn’t in the same league as Hawkeye’s attack that had nearly cleaved him in two, but he could admit to himself -privately, and he'd deny it if anyone asked- that Sanji had made him reconsider the strength people could reach even without weapons.

Sure, Luffy had more raw strength than the cook, but he had the help of his devil fruit to make his attacks hit as hard as they did. Sanji had nothing going for him, and he still kicked hard enough that he could match Zoro in their friendly spars.

The attack, instead of cutting Franky like he had been expecting, seemed to evaporate as soon as it hit his skin.

“What?” Shouted Nero, eyes wide in shock.

“I'm a cyborg.” Explained Franky, hitting a fist against his chest, the sound not exactly hollow but still reverberating in a strange way indicating that he wasn't all flesh and bones. “I've evolved beyond the reach of men, and I'm now made of iron.”

Zoro made a little uh sound of understanding. He didn't get how that worked, but he could admit that it was a little cool. And he was all the more glad to have learned to cut through steel. If people could just have an iron body without having to eat a devil fruit, he would have been in trouble had he stayed as weak as at the start of their journey.

“That’s nice.” He commented honestly.

“And you haven’t even seen the best part.” Boasted Franky. “I have a suuper…” He grabbed his ribs with one of his hands, before jerking his arm back and taking part of his belly with it, “internal fridge! To keep the best drink in the world fresh.” He shouted, throwing his head back as he took a mouthful from a bottle of Cola.

“Now that’s interesting.” To have access to fresh alcohol, everywhere he wanted? Sure, he didn’t generally care over the quality of the alcohol he drank -as long as he could start to feel a little buzz after three or four barrels, it was alright in his book- but he could admit that there was something nice about drinking something a little better now and then. Storage in Merry’s fridge was very limited, and given how much some of the crew ate it made sense that there was no place left for his favorite drink. “How much space do you have in there?” He asked as he leaned forward to see the inside of the fridge.

“Enough for an emergency refuel. Sadly, it’s limited by my need for internal organs. I can’t really get rid of them.”

“Hmm.” Slightly disappointing, you couldn’t even fit five bottles in there.

“Will you stop ignoring me?!”

Ugh, right, there was an enemy in the car with them.

“Do you want to take care of him?” Asked Zoro, pointing with his thumb toward Nero, who was fulminating behind him. The guy being CP9 meant he must be a little more promising than everyone he had to fight in this train, but Franky had been fighting him first and he could respect dibs.

“Sure.” Answered Franky, hitting one closed fist against his palm. “It won’t take long.”

“I’m going forward th-” He cut off as he raised his blade in front of him, blocking the kick at the last moment.

“I’m not going to let you disrespect me that much.” Muttered Nero darkly. “You want to look away in the middle of our fight, fine, that’s your loss. But to think that I’d let you pass that easily…”

“You’re in my path right now.” Said Zoro, taking a step back so he could point his sword threateningly at Nero. “I won’t hesitate to take you down myself if you continue to stand in my way.”

“Soru.” Whispered Nero as he disappeared.

Shit Thought Zoro as he whirled around. The agent moved just fast enough to beat his reflexes, and he had noticed that Nero was now standing behind him, pistols aimed straight at his back, too late to react. He wouldn’t be able to deflect the bullet, but he could turn around enough that his arm shielded his organs. He wasn’t used to fighting people using firearms -well, no, it was more accurate to say that he wasn’t used to fighting people using firearms that were good enough to actually be able to hit him and fast enough that he couldn’t cut them down before they fired- and he hadn’t been struck by a bullet since his first weeks on the sea, but he remembered how bothersome it had been.

A sword strike was something momentaneous; if he wasn’t good enough to avoid the hit, then he got cut and lost blood, but it didn’t impede his ability to fight. But a bullet stayed inside the wound, shifting with each move and generally being a nuisance that he remembered having trouble blocking out the last time he had gotten shot.

He saw from the corner of his eyes Nero squeeze the trigger, but instead of embedding into his shoulder the bullet whizzed past him, barely scratching his shirt as Franky’s fist smashed into Nero’s face, sending him flying through the door and into the next wagon and deviating his aim at the last moment.

His hands clenched angrily on his swords. It had been too close. He needed to be on top of his game to face those people, he couldn’t forget that they had been the ones to defeat at least one, maybe two of his crewmates.

He followed the agent through the now open door, stopping as he saw that the car was full. Even if he had barely seen them for a few minutes, he could recognize some of the people from the Galley-La, but more importantly he could see Drake, heavily chained down and half sitting, half leaning uncomfortably against one of the benches.

The attention of the room had shifted to him and Franky, and they all subtly moved to ensure they were in a better position to fight. Kaku removed his feet from the table but didn’t rise, Kalifa uncrossed her legs and tightened her hold on her whip, making sure to be ready to act in case Drake tried anything. Blueno crossed his arms over his chest, making his muscles bulge out.

And Lucci turned his head slightly, just enough to see them from the corner of his eyes.

“You! I will make you pay!” Shouted Nero as he jumped to his feet, almost frothing at the mouth in rage.

Lucci barely flickered his eyes toward him, taking in everything important in a single glance, before he looked at Kalifa.

“Who is he?” He asked, his tone dismissive. It was enough to make Nero fall quiet in the middle of his graphic description of how he would make Franky suffer.

“He’s CP9's latest recruit.” She answered, her tone professional even if the other agents could sense her distaste, used to see through each other’s masks. “He is only able to use four of the Rokushiki.” She added, making them all understand why she felt that way. “He didn’t master Shigan nor Tekkai.”

Kaku snorted at that, shaking his head in dismay. And to think people had been giving him grief because of his age when he had joined, and then they let this… disgrace of a human being join their rank.

“Management really needs to learn not to recruit new people without first getting my approval.” Commented Lucci. “Look at the weaklings we end up saddled with.”

“I’m not- I’m not weak.” Protested Nero, outraged.

Kaku raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the display of emotion, shifting a little on his seat so he could have a better view of the scene for when Lucci, inevitably, made the man understand that his place wasn’t alongside them.

“You’re just the old guard, jealous that younger people are- urgh.” Nero coughed blood mid-diatribe as Lucci appeared in front of him, two fingers buried into his spleen.

“No Shigan. No Tekkai. And certainly no other fighting ability. You’re not worth being part of Cipher Pol.” He jerked him forward with the hand still inside of his body, frowning in distaste at the sound of pain the other let out. “You’re not even worth being alive.” He wrenched his hand back and shifted his weight, a powerful kick landing in the middle of Nero’s torso and sending him crashing into a wall, out of the car, and into the roaring ocean.

Franky made a small sound of disgust at how they treated each other.

“Drake.” Zoro’s eyes were trained on his teammate, ignoring the assassin standing near him. He didn’t care about the byplay happening next to him. What he cared about was how the agents had treated his friend. And he didn’t like what he was seeing. “You’re alright?”

Drake shrugged as much as he could, bound as he was, and answered in a flat tone. “I’ll be better once I’m back with the rest of you.” His eyes were intent on Zoro’s face, sharing without saying anything how he really felt. He didn’t want to show any emotion, because it would have been akin to letting sharks smell blood in the water, and the agents would have no doubt pounced on his weakness.

“And Robin?” There were a wealth of questions in Zoro’s, which Drake seemed to understand, but before he could answer Lucci interrupted, making the room’s attention shift to him.

“It doesn’t matter where she is right now. You won’t reach her. She’ll soon be tortured and killed, just as she should have been since she was a kid.” The hateful sentence was said in a monotone, as if he hadn’t just advocated for killing a child in cold blood. “After all, her mere existence is a sin.”

Zoro couldn’t help but grit his teeth in anger. He didn’t know Robin’s past -he felt like he barely knew her even in the present, really- but he knew that no one deserved that kind of hatred that young. A bounty at the age of eight, higher than the one he had right now which he had gained by taking out one of the Shichibukai’s top operators, and now this bastard saying that she should have died while still a kid?

Some people didn’t have the chance to stay childish for long, forced to grow up far too quickly for their age. Even if he didn’t know all the details, he had no doubt that it had been the case for everyone in his crew.

But even if he had learned to take care of himself young, he had found a place where he could be a kid, and someone to be a kid with in Kuina. He had retained his innocence, even after her death had forced his eyes open to the fact that good things couldn’t last forever unless you gave everything you had to make them.

Kuina had been eleven when she died. No matter how much meeting Tashigi had shaken him, it had allowed him to guess what she would have looked like had she reached adulthood. Hair and glasses notwithstanding, Tashigi and Robin had similar face structures, enough that people who didn’t know any of them could mistake them in a crowd. He could just imagine what Robin looked like at eight, a younger version of Kuina with bigger eyes and slightly different chin.

He couldn’t imagine how someone had been able to see a girl that young, looking at them with innocent eyes, and still be able to give her the moniker of Devil Child. Whatever had happened to make her so hated by the rest of the world that even twenty years later people were still hunting her down, he didn’t think it had any basis in reality.

“She’s in the first car.” Said Drake, anger flashing through his eyes at Lucci’s words. “They didn’t want to give us the opportunity to talk, and apparently she’s less of a flight risk than I am, so they left her without supervision.”

“So I only need to defeat the people in this room to get you both out of here, uh.”

Drake inhaled deeply. He wouldn’t insult Zoro by telling him to be careful, not that the swordsman would listen to his warning anyway, he was far too proud for that. He had no doubt that Zoro would be able to defeat some of the people in his room -his haki had been shot to hell because of the seastone cuffs, but he could still guess the true measure of their powers now that they no longer were repressing their presence. But he wouldn’t win against Lucci, and he wouldn’t win if they chose to attack all at once, which they would obviously do since they were assassins and didn’t care about fighting fair.

Zoro finished tying the bandana over his head and put Wado’s hilt between his teeth. “I better take this seriously, then.”

Drake caught the blue-haired man’s eyes from across the room. He was being ignored by everyone else, all too busy paying attention to Lucci, Zoro, or even himself in Kalifa’s case. As soon as they made eye contact, he tilted his head slightly to the side, toward the door leading to the first car. He saw the moment the man understood and shifted his weight slightly, getting ready to run across the room as soon as he saw an opening.

Zoro didn’t wait to provide him with one. He attacked Lucci with all three swords at once, not willing to start slowly. The other agents shifted in anticipation but didn’t try to participate, letting Lucci have his fight. Drake threw his body to the side and headbutted Kalifa, catching her off guard. He managed to catch the end of her whip in his hand and, ignoring the spikes digging into his skin, jerked it away from her. Already she was reacting, managing to trap his legs with hers despite being far smaller and preventing him from rising.

Part of the attention in the room shifted to him, entirely deflecting the attention of those who had kept a distracted eye on Franky, who didn’t waste time and breathed fire in Kaku and Blueno’s direction, using their instinctive reaction to protect their face to run across the car and toward the last door in the train.

~~One Piece~~

Robin flinched as the door to her car smashed open, instinctively crossing her arms over her chest. She had thought she had heard a commotion in the second car, but it had been hard to hear anything with the wind howling outside and the fact that the two cars didn’t have a common wall, a small space separating them. She especially hadn’t believed that there was anyone stupid enough to try anything against CP9, and even if there had been nobody would have been good enough to get past them and reach her.

So to see an unknown man enter the room was surprising and worrying.

“Nico Robin! Come, we’re leaving.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” She immediately protested.

He rolled his eyes at her. “Your friends are here for you, so you’re coming.” Before she could protest or even start to understand that statement, he grabbed her around the hips, put her in a fireman's carry over his shoulder, and ran out of the car.

Just as they entered the second car he stopped suddenly before being sent flying back clear across the room, Robin falling from his grasp and crashing on the floor. She stumbled back to her feet, coming face to face with Kaku who was slowly coming down from his attacking position, one leg raised to kick Franky.

“You’re not supposed to leave your room.” He admonished.

“I’m…” She trailed off as she caught sight of what was happening in the wagon. Blueno had pinned Drake against a wall with his forearm against his throat, the zoan turning red from lack of oxygen as he futilely tried to struggle. He raised his arm a little more, lifting Drake entirely off the ground as Kalifa hit him once in the middle of the stomach, with enough force that he would have bent in two if he hadn’t been immobilized. Zoro was struggling to get back to his feet, glaring intently at Lucci as his arm shook, barely holding the agent’s foot from crushing him against the floor.

“You can’t… You can’t hurt them!” She shouted, taking a step further inside the room, ignoring Kaku getting ready to subdue her should she try anything. “We had a deal, you can’t touch them.” She repeated, focusing on Lucci since he was the one in charge.

“Robin-” Started to protest Zoro, but Lucci avoided his sword and kicked him in the stomach to make him silent.

“Stay quiet.” He ordered coldly, before turning to look at Robin. “We only agreed to leave them alone on Water Seven. We are no longer on Water Seven.”

She gritted her teeth at that. Sure, he was right, they had only agreed not to attack the Straw Hats as long as they were on the island since there was no way that the government would offer any more than that. But she was sure she could still protect them, they had no need to hurt them now that they had her in their grasp.

“I’m here. You have Drake to make sure I will cooperate. There is no need to hurt any of them anymore.” She half argued, half pleaded.

“Robin.” The word was barely more than a gasp, Drake blinking quickly as he tried not to lose consciousness. ‘Go’ He mouthed. The agents weren’t expecting her to attack, and she had a chance to escape with Zoro right now. He didn’t care if they had to leave him behind to do so.

“Diez Drake isn’t here to ensure your cooperation.” Countered Lucci. “He is here because the Marines want to put their hands on him, and it was barely any trouble to grab him alongside you.”

She swallowed, her eyes darting around the room. Kaku had left his place at her side to go into the first car and restrain Franky. Blueno and Kalifa were busy taking care of Drake, who had finally slumped unconscious against the wall. Lucci was standing in the middle of the car, hands in the pockets of his suit, as if he hadn’t been in the middle of the fight, having totally dismissed Zoro as a threat and having even turned his back to him. The swordsman had gotten back to his feet, and she had no doubt that he would continue fighting and there was no convincing him to do overwise, an angry glint in his eyes that spoke of his true feelings, far different than his usual interest in a good fight.

She couldn’t let him risk his life while he still had a chance of escape. Not for her.

She crossed her hands over her chest, calling out “Seix Fleur.”. Lucci was suddenly in front of her, wrenching her wrist away from her body, but it was too late. Two hands had appeared behind Zoro, tugging him back and making him fall into the open third car. The other four had simultaneously unlocked the various mechanisms that linked the two cars togethers, separating the rest of the train from the first two wagons.

“Wh- Robin!” Shouted Zoro, jumping to his feet and toward the edge of the floor, one hand clenched on the side of the door frame, the other reaching out toward the quickly moving away car that held his friends. A wave crashed against his part of the train, almost rocking it off the rails, stopping his idea of trying to jump into the other car before it could truly form in his mind.

“Drake!” He grabbed the weapons he had dropped when taken by surprise, racking his brain trying to find something he could do despite the ever growing distance between them. But the only thing he could try was sending a flying attack, and he didn’t doubt that the agents would be able to block it easily. Even if it hit, it would only endanger Robin and Drake’s life even more. Given how Lucci was still gripping Robin’s wrists, despite her no longer fighting, and Drake was slumped against the floor, their lives were already in danger enough with his contribution.

“Damn it.” He muttered. “Fucking - useless!” If he had any less control over his emotions, he would have kicked the nearest bench straight into the sea trying to exteriorize his anger. He had been so close! If only Robin had tried to work with him instead of against- but, no, it was more complicated than that. No matter how much he had doubted her, he hadn’t missed the part where she had bargained for the crew’s safety with her own life.

Even if he had managed to leave with her, they wouldn’t have managed to get Drake away without a major fight, and the zoan wouldn’t even have been able to help since he was unconscious.

“Damnit.” He repeated, more weakly. He would need to tell the rest of the crew, to tell Luffy that he had failed.

Chapter Text

“I see something!” Shouted Usopp. He was sitting on one of the Rocketman’s windows, the upper half of his body outside out of the train while Chopper kept a grip on his legs to make sure he wouldn’t fall out. He would have gone to the top of the train for a better view, except that only the crazies were able to stand up there in the storm without fear. Usopp didn’t want to die because he slipped on a wet surface in the middle of a tempest.

“Zoro’s part of the train?” Asked Nami, leaning outside to try to see as well. He had called their Den Den earlier to explain what had happened and why it wouldn’t be easy to get Robin to leave with them.

“Well, it’s either that or a sea king, so let’s assume that it’s his train.”

“Did the boys find a way to make sure we won’t crash into it?”

“Last I heard, they planned to destroy the Puffing Tom before it reaches us.” Told them Paulie, passing a hand through his hair to try to shake out the water. It had been a mad rush to get the Rocketman on the rails, especially given that the Franky Family had wanted to join them, as well as some of the Galley-La workers. Most of the Franky Family had been too wounded to go, and some of the shipwrights that had been healthy enough not to be useless in a fight had chosen to stay behind to take care of the wounded and the dead. Only one of the King Bulls had been able to go at sea, the other too hurt and at risk of drowning in the raging ocean, which had resulted in over a dozen people having to stay in the lone Rocketman’s car while the others were on top of a swimming Gomorrah, the King Bull having been tied to the train so it would follow them.

“Those guys are crazy.” Complained Zambai.

“Eh, I’ve heard worse from them.” Shrugged Nami.

“I can’t believe Robin gave herself over for us.” Murmured Chopper.

“I’m sure she thought she was doing the best.” Said Nami.

“Well, it’s dumb.” Stated Usopp, slipping back inside. “She has to know we’d rush after her anyway. Especially given that she’s not the only one they took from our crew.”

“She was working for Crocodile before.” Reminded them Nami in a whisper. “Maybe she didn’t think we’d actually try to help her.” She certainly hadn’t thought Luffy would go that far for her, up until she had learned he had come to Cocoyashi, and not to take revenge for her having stolen the Merry but to help her.

Luffy was so different from every other captain she ever had the displeasure to meet while scouring the East Blue for treasures, and she knew that it could be hard to forget the instinctive responses one developed while working for another pirate crew.

“She hadn’t been with us for long.” Agreed Usopp, thinking back.

“How long was she working for Crocodile?” Asked Chopper. He had never dared ask her too many questions, even if he no longer was afraid of her like he had been at the beginning.

“No idea.” Usopp answered.

“I bet Drake would know.” Nami added with a frown.

“Yeah… Do you think they knew each other from before?”

Chopper frowned at that. Drake had hinted the night after they left Skypiea, that he hadn’t had the nicest childhood. Obviously Robin had lived a difficult one as well, since he didn’t think anyone that had a normal childhood -not that he knew what it was, after all he had spent the first years of his life as a rejected reindeer- would have bounty from a young age. Maybe they had met during that time.

“He knew of her at least.” Answered Nami.

“Lucci -the pigeon bastard guy- confirmed that she got her bounty at eight, so it’s not surprising that he’d heard of her, given his previous job.” Said Zoro, entering the wagon. “That’s a long time to be hunted by the government.”

“Zoro!” Exclaimed Chopper, relieved. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, she detached the car before I could really start fighting against them. Drake at least is still fighting, even if I have no doubt they’ll make him pay for his struggles, but Robin honestly seems to have given up on freedom.” He sighed. This was all too complicated. First Nami, then Robin, he wondered if there was something with the woman of the crew that made them betray the crew thinking they were protecting them by doing so. At least the men had easier problems, and none of them ever thought of giving themselves up to a horrible fate because they underestimated the will of their captain.

~~One Piece~~

“So.” Said Drake casually, ignoring the dozens of guards escorting him, Robin, and Franky further into Enies Lobby. “What are you here for?” He asked, turning to look at Franky. The man was an unknown, and despite the large chains that surrounded his arms they hadn’t used sea stone on him, showing that he wasn’t a danger to the government through strength alone.

“No idea.” Answered Franky without inflections.

“Yeah, same.” He saw Kaku half-smile from the corner of his eyes.

At least one of us is finding enjoyment in this situation. He thought bitterly.

“Ah, and here are the guests of honor!” Shouted a purple-haired man as they entered his office. A few other people were sitting on couches around the room. Given how they dressed, there was little doubt that they were other CP9 agents. “Recognize me, Cutty Flam?”

“Never saw your ugly face before.” Answered Franky, refusing to even glance his way.

“You’re the one who disfigured me, eight years ago!” Franky looked at him then, frowning.

“You were one of the people who arrested Tom.” He guessed. He could vaguely remember bashing with a rifle the head of the agent who had taken Tom away, but he had been so angry at the time, at Tom and Iceburg for not fighting with him, at himself for having built the weapons that had doomed them, that he had almost forgotten what the bastard had looked like.

Spandam scowled at the lack of reaction, before turning toward Robin. “And I’ve never had the chance to meet you, but you should remember having met my dad, Spandine.” Robin didn’t react, looking straight ahead. The name wasn’t something she remembered anyway, but then again there had been hundreds of agents throughout her life that had hunted down, and she didn’t remember each and every one. “Now that I caught you, I’ll finally be able to complete my family work.” He boasted, refusing to get deterred by the lackluster he was getting. “I’ll be the one to achieve world peace, thanks to you, Nico Robin and Cutty Fam, for giving me access to one of the Ancient Weapons.”

Drake’s eyes flickered toward Franky in surprise. He should have expected it, but he hadn’t thought that someone other than Robin could have something to do with the ancient weapons. As far as he knew, she was the only one left able to read the Poneglyph, so Franky must be connected in another way to the weapons. Maybe he knew where one of the Poneglyphs revealing their location was located.

“CP9 wasted so many years infiltrating the Galley-La and getting close enough to Iceburg to manage his entire life because they thought he was the one with access to the blueprints to Pluton and couldn’t risk him disappearing given his connections, but now that we know you’re the one in possession of the blueprints… This is perfect!” He snickered. “Nobody cares about you, nobody will cause problems if we make you disappear. And now that I have you and Nico Robin, I’m the only person in the world able to get access to Pluton. No one will be able to oppose me now!”

“I won’t reveal the location of the weapons to anyone.” Snapped Robin. She let out a small sound of pain as Spandam slapped her in retaliation.

“I don’t care how long I’ll have to get you tortured, you will reveal to me everything you know.” He spat.

Fuck it. The CP9 agents had relaxed slightly now that they were inside their base and in a room filled with allies, and it gave him just the right window of opportunity.

Drake launched forward, tackling Spandam into the nearest wall with his shoulder. I don’t have long enough to kill him but if just could… He brought his knee up, the chains linking his feet together stopping it from reaching his desired target but he made do with ramming it in the middle of Spandam’s tight, feeling the bone in it crack. Just put him in an infirmary, buy us hours or even a day, long enough for Zoro to get the rest of the crew. He felt a hand grab the back of his jacket just as he was readying another hit, giving him just enough time to headbutt Spandam into the wall before he was wrenched away and thrown to the floor.

“Knock it off.” Warned Lucci in a bored voice, smashing Drake’s head into the floor with a foot.

“You hit me!” Shouted Spandam incredulously, clutching at his bleeding nose, before he started jumping on the spot on one leg, grabbing the other one in pain. “I’ll get you back for that.” He whined. “I could just kill you right now, I don’t need you here.” He kicked Drake in the middle, crying out in pain as it only hurt his leg more. “Your situation is entirely hopeless. I’ve heard just before you got here that the StrawHats had just reached Enies Lobby.” Robin gasped, Drake jerking in surprise under Lucci’s foot. “I have ten thousand men at my disposal on the island, they have no chance of ever getting out of here. They’ll either be killed, or defeated and sent to Impel Down alongside you.”

“No…” Whispered Robin in despair.

Thanks the seas they’re already here. Thought Drake, though he knew better than to say it out loud.

~~One Piece~~

With a little huff of effort, Luffy lifted his body and got to his feet on top of the roof of the Courthouse. He had left the rest of his crew behind when he had rushed through the island, but he hadn’t felt capable of waiting.

He had reached the last building of the island, and there was little left separating him from his objective. There was a tall building in front of him, far taller than everything he had come across on the island until now, ‘Enies Lobby’ written in large letters on it. Behind it he could only see the ocean, and further away, easily towering over the whole island, the colossal Gate Of Justice, the symbol that he had recently learned represented the World Government clearly visible, painted in dark blue over the gray doors. This was the gate that Drake and Robin weren’t allowed, in any circumstance, to pass through.

However, if the enemy planned to take them to the gate, then they had to be in the building in front of him. While it was far away, he believed that with enough momentum he would manage to reach it with a Rocket.

“Maybe I should wait for the others.” He thought out loud, bending over the edge of the roof to see the void separating the two buildings. “They won’t have any way to cross this on their own…” He suddenly threw himself to the side, some instinct warning him of an upcoming attack, and a fist smashed into the wall where his back had been just seconds before, leaving a large impact behind.

“You won’t go any further, Straw Hat Luffy.” Said the tall man now standing in front of him, arms crossed over his torso. He had spikes of hair on either side of his face, imitating horns, and sort of looked like a bull.

“Who’re you?” Luffy asked. “Wait, I don’t care, I don’t have the time for this.” He turned his head back toward the other building. Should he try to get there without waiting for the rest of his crew? If more enemies showed up while he waited, he wouldn’t have enough strength left to defeat the strongest villain around.

“I am Blueno, of CP9.” Said the bull guy.

Luffy focused back on him. So he is one of the guys who attacked my friends…

“Your mere presence here is an assault against the World Government and all the countries it represents.” Luffy blinked at that. Was the guy stupid? It was an assault on the island and the people who had taken Drake and Robin, not on some government or another. “But your progress is stopping here. With my mastery over the Rokushiki, you won’t be able to defeat me and reach the Tower of Justice. Cease your useless struggles.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Luffy admitted freely. “I’m still going to beat you up if you insist on getting in my way.”

Those guys were strong, he already knew that, so he needed to end this fight quickly without exhausting himself.

“Gomu Gomu no Rifle!” He shouted, cocking his fist back and sending it flying toward Blueno. Blueno obviously planned to take the hit, as he spread his feet a little more for balance and said “Tekai” while puffing out his torso.

That’ll teach him to underestimate me. Thought Luffy as armament haki coated his fist. He couldn’t maintain it for long, and had troubles using it to protect himself, but he had quickly learned how to strengthen his attacks by using armament at the last second. It worked often enough for him to use, and he knew that trying those techniques during a real fight was the only way to get better at using them. Blueno took the hit head-on, skidding for a few meters, his feet leaving deep impressions into the floor. He looked at Luffy with wide eyes, the back of his hand coming up to wipe the blood that had come out of his mouth at the attack. There was enough strength in that hit to send most people flying, I’m going to need to do better if I want to seriously harm this guy. Thought Luffy.

“Where did that strength come from?” Wondered Blueno. No rookie, especially not in the first half of the grand line, should be strong enough to break through his Tekkai that easily!

“You haven’t seen anything yet!” Shouted Luffy. “Gomu Gomu no Gatling.” Blueno disappeared from view before he could be hit, reappearing further away. Luffy’s eyes tracked him almost immediately and he canceled his attack, his arm snapping back to his body just as he sent one foot in Blueno’s direction. “Gomu Gomu no Stamp.” The quick attack took the CP9 agent by surprise, not giving him the time to activate Tekkai or to dodge a second time, and he was sent crashing into the nearest wall, an impression of Luffy’s sandal visible over his suit.

~~One Piece~~

After Spandam’s more or less effective taunts, he had ordered them to get the prisoners away from him. CP9 had done the bare minimum to follow his order, and Robin, Drake, and Franky were now sitting against a wall in the corridor just outside of his office. The agents were either inside the room or next to them guarding them, not trusting them not to try to escape.

“I can’t believe Luffy would come here.” Murmured Robin. Despair was rolling off her in waves, Drake not needing haki or his enhanced senses to feel it.

“You know he’s not alone.” Drake stated. If one of them was here, the whole crew wasn’t far behind.

“They can’t be here, they’re not supposed to be here.”

Drake refrained from sighing because Robin was honestly distressed, and this probably came from years of self-loathing and of only being able to rely on herself, but honestly? If she managed to think for ten seconds with a clear head, she would see that there was no way Luffy wouldn’t have followed them here. Even if it had meant having to go to Enies Lobby swimming, he would have reached the island.

Now, he had no idea if they would be successfully saved. There was a time limit on their rescue, because not even the crew would be able to follow them once the Gates Of Justice had closed behind them and they were on a warship to Impel Down, but before that? Every bet was off, and he would do his best to assist in their escape, even if he was currently chained in a way that basically prevented him from fighting.

“The swordsman, Zoro, seemed determined to get to you both. If the rest of your crew is even a little bit like him…” Said Franky.

“They’re worse.” Said Drake honestly.

“They’re not…” Drake could guess what Robin had instinctively wanted to say. She had always tried to distance herself from the others, never calling them by their given name, only watching their shenanigans from afar without participating. But even she couldn’t deny that she was part of the crew. Not without lying to herself, and she was far too smart for that.

“Robin.” He said, his tone attracting her attention, but he could see that she wasn’t focusing on him, not entirely. The Cipher Pol agents were, however, not missing even a single interaction. He struggled to get to a kneeling position from where he was sitting, his bound legs and hands not helping his balance, but he finally managed to kneel, one knee on each side of Robin’s legs. She was sitting with her back against the wall, legs bent in front of her. She would have probably hugged her knees if her hands hadn’t been chained behind her back as well.

“Robin.” He repeated, with more urgency. “They’re here for us. They’ll come and save us.” She immediately shook her head, not willing to listen. “Robin. They will.” Her face scrunched up in emotional pain as she looked at him, as she saw the conviction in his eyes. “And even if they don’t, if they fail…” He leaned forward even more, his mouth directly next to Robin’s ear, and whispered so lowly that not even the zoans in the corridor could hear. “I’ll kill you myself if it comes down to it.” Robin jerked her head back, watching him with wide eyes.

They both knew she would get tortured in Impel Down. They wouldn’t let her die, not when she was aware of the location of at least one ancient weapon, and they would watch her closely to be sure she wouldn’t be able to kill herself. But during the transport, before they reached the undersea prison and they were still together, it would be so easy for an accident to happen. Even if they kept an eye on them, pushing her off the warship and into the Tarai current, or off a bridge and into the tumultuous water of Enies Lobby would only take a second. He would do it for her without a second of hesitation and without remorse. Partly so she wouldn’t have to face torture, but also because he didn’t want all the secrets she knew to fall into the hands of the World Government. Impel Down would end up breaking her. Even the worst of the worst, those without any morals, ended up breaking, and Robin was far from immoral.

“Thank you.” She said as she recognized that he was telling the truth, letting her head fall forward onto his shoulder. “Thank you.” She repeated sincerely, voice dripping with relief.

Franky looked at them, no doubt guessing what Drake had just said even if he hadn’t heard it.

“Are you two kissing while your friends are getting killed?” Asked Spandam with a mean laugh. Drake scowled, disgusted that he would think that, even as his cheeks reddened as he took stock of their position. He could see the same sentiment echoed on Robin’s face, with less blushing involved on her part.

“Let’s not mention that.” He told her as Lucci grabbed his hair and took him away from Robin and back at his place next to her. If Spandam made a crude comment about them where Sanji could hear him, he would no doubt be kicked into oblivion.

“I have just learned that the rest of the Straw Hats have been defeated by my soldiers.” Spandam gloated, holding up his Den Den in pride.

“Uhm, Sir.” Said the Marine on the other end. “We haven’t defeated them. About forty pirates have invaded the island, and they are currently in the courthouse.”

Forty? Wondered Drake, before the rest of the sentence registered. The courthouse was the last building on the main island. They only needed to wait for the drawbridge to expand over the void and they would be able to reach them.

“The giants guarding the main gate have defected to their side, and we have lost more than 2000 soldiers, half of them having been taken out by Straw Hat Luffy. We have no idea where Straw Hat currently is, having disappeared close to the courthouse.”

“Wh-wh-what?” Spluttered Spandam, running back inside of his office to see the main island from the windows. “What is going on?” He shouted.

How the hell did they manage that in so little time. Wondered Drake. Then again, Luffy had managed to befriend Dorry, and Usopp and Nami Brogy, in barely a few minutes on Little Garden so it wasn’t surprising that they had somehow managed to find new friends even on Enies Lobby. They had probably appealed to their pride as warriors, or Luffy had defeated them and they had decided to follow his strength.

Chapter Text

Usopp knew he wasn’t without talent. His marksmanship was something he was proud of, something he had learned he didn’t need to lie about because he could hit any target once he set his mind to it.

He knew he wasn’t stupid, and would even call himself rather smart. He had, multiple times ever since he had left Syrup, to think quickly to come out on top in situations where he was outmatched. He had enhanced his weapon based on a simple slingshot into something deadly should he wish it, had created Nami’s clima-tact from nothing but his basic understanding of how to create cold and heat and his faith in his friend’s ability to transform it into a weapon. Sure, he wasn’t Chopper-smart, who knew almost everything there was to know about the human body and would discover what still wasn’t known on his own, or Robin-smart, who pulled knowledge out of nowhere, or Nami-smart, whose skills as a navigator weren’t all instinctive but came from long studies and high-level calculations she had to do in her head to deduce the behavior of the elements.

But he considered himself, in that aspect, comparable to Sanji or Drake. The two weren’t obviously book obsessed, but they were also able to think quickly even when it didn’t come to fighting, to use the situation to their advantage no matter how unexpected. They were planners when there was little time to make a plan.

(He didn’t think that Luffy or Zoro were stupid. Sure, Luffy was dumb, but he was dumb like Usopp imagined all little brothers were dumb. He was still a genius when it came to reading people and to fighting. Their intellect was simply focused elsewhere, which was very useful since they were far more dedicated to fighting than the rest of the crew.)

However, despite the few strengths he knew he had, he was far more aware of his weaknesses. Weak. Coward. So little like his father, entirely outmatched on this sea where only monsters survived. Utterly ordinary, and so weak.

Meeting the giants on Little Garden had opened his eyes. He had always strived to be a brave warrior of the sea, but it hadn’t been a concrete goal until then, just a way to get closer to his father who he didn’t doubt was one. He hadn’t known what it meant, had hoped that it was something he would discover as he grew stronger on his journey alongside Luffy.

And he had discovered it. It meant being proud of oneself, proud of his own strength and of that of his nakamas. It meant fighting, no matter how long it took and no matter against whom, for what was right. (It meant being able to fight even one of his friends if he ever needed to, if they ever became harmful to themselves or to others, if he didn’t think the path they chose was the right one.) Meeting Brogy and Dorry had opened his eyes, as he had discovered that there was an entire culture of people who were committed to live by a credo he respected. And right then he had vowed that not only he would become a brave warrior of the sea, but that he would also reach Elbaf one day, and tell them of Brogy and Dorry's unending fight for honor.

So when the two giants guarding the gates of Enies Lobby, Oimo and Kashii, had mentioned their captain and their belief that they had been imprisoned… Well. Usopp had put his brain to good use, and had quickly discovered that the two giants had been tricked into working for the Marines.

And seeing the two warriors fight hundreds of Marines at once to help the Straw Hats reach the courtroom, he felt once again sure that the giants of Elbaf were people that deserved his respect.

~~One Piece~~

Luffy huffed in discontent. Blueno was proving to be harder to beat than he would have guessed at first. He had barely managed to touch him after those first few hits, the CP9 agent being just a little too fast for him to follow. He could anticipate where he would reappear when he did that fast-moving technique -Soru, he had called it, the same thing that Kaku had done when they had met in Water Seven- but not when he used his weird devil fruit that allowed him to disappear quickly, and then he could come out anywhere and at any time, generally in Luffy’s blind spot.

‘I need to get faster.’ There wasn't much he could do against that devil fruit, but this Soru thing… His eyes tracked Blueno’s movement as he appeared far away and tried to get closer with Soru. ‘There! He just kicked the ground quickly… But it only allows him to launch his body far, I need to get my whole body to be quicker…’

He jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding one of Blueno’s attacks. ‘It’s just like when Aokiji was here. Robin had been so scared of him… Drake as well, even if he had tried to hide it. And he wasn’t doing anything, just standing here.’ He thought unhappily. ‘I not only need to get stronger but faster as well, and this guy is faster than me, so how can I use that?’

Blueno leaped toward him again, and now that Luffy had been able to watch it more than once, he could clearly see how he kicked the ground ten times in a second.

‘I don’t know how other people's bodies work, but it has to hurt since he isn’t rubber. I should be able to do the same without problems. If by moving his feet quickly he can gain momentum, then I should be able to speed up my whole body by moving something quickly as well- ah!’

“Thank you for that fight.” He said sincerely.

“What?” Grunted Blueno.

“I couldn’t see how to get quicker, but you just showed me how.” He smiled as he leaned forward, putting one fist on the ground in front of him. He felt his body heat up as he used his legs as pumps, accelerating the blood flow through his body. One time, two times…

“Gear Second” He called out, taking a gulp of air. He would be able to match Blueno’s speed that way, and his increased speed would strengthen his attacks as well.

“Gomu Gomu no…” He cocked one fist back, aiming for Blueno.

“Whatever you’re doing, you’re no match for my speed.” Taunted Blueno.

“Jet Pistol!”
“Soru”

His fist crashed into the CP9 agent before he could move more than a foot away from his position, sending him flying across the roof and into one of the battlements. Luffy frowned at his fist unhappily. He had tried to use armament on this attack, but using Gear Second took far too much energy for him to focus enough to succeed. Blueno struggled back to his feet, clearly concussed.

“Gomu Gomu no Bazooka”
“Tek-”

He didn’t even have the time to activate his Tekkai before Luffy’s palms smashed into him, sending him flying away from the courthouse, across the void, and into the Tower Of Justice.

~~One Piece~~

“What the fuck is going on!” Freaked Spandam. He had been watching through his office windows, just in time to see Blueno lose. “You!” He ordered, turning back to point to some of the nameless agents. “Take the prisoners to the Gates of Justice. I won’t allow them to escape, they’ll have to wait safely on the other side of the gates.”

“ROBIN! DRAKE!” The yell shook the tower, and the agents froze in their position, surrounding Drake, Robin, and Franky. “I’m coming for you!”

“Straw Hat Luffy has been identified! He is standing on top of the courthouse. The rest of the pirates are still fighting inside.” Reported one of the Marines on the still connected Den Den Mushi.

“He just took down Blueno.” Despaired Spandam, grabbing at his hair with his hands.

“He was far weaker than some of us.” Scoffed one of the CP9 agents that hadn’t been on Water Seven -Jyabura? There had been a lot of insults thrown around when the two groups reunited, Drake wasn’t sure he had managed to catch the name of this one.

“You’re barely stronger than him.” Scoffed Kaku.

“Want to repeat that? My Doriki is almost thrice his!”

“Still weaker than mine.”

“And you both are far below Lucci, chapapa.”

Franky spared a glance toward the agents. They were too busy arguing with each other to pay attention to them, even Lucci calmly riling them up with sharp words. “You should go outside.” He told his two companions.

“What?” Asked Robin.

“Your crew. They’re right here, just outside, fighting to get you back. They’re risking their lives for that, don’t deny them what could be their last opportunity to see you if they fail. And if they end up succeeding, at least show them a little support.”

“I never asked them-” She hissed.

“Whatever you’re planning, do it.” Cut her off Drake. He hoped that seeing them all here would make her realize that this really was happening, and that no matter how much she protested and said she didn’t want them here, they wouldn’t care and keep on fighting for her anyway.

“Right.” Agreed Franky. He moved against the wall, managing to put the chains holding his cuffs together under him. Since he didn’t have a devil fruit, he hadn’t been subjected to the same kind of cuffs as Drake and Robin, who had their hands trapped next to each other with no give. “Hold on to me.” He ordered. Drake’s hands managed to grab onto one arm, twisting his legs behind Robin’s back and interlacing his chains with her cuffs.

“Coup de Boo”

Franky’s attack launched the three of them through the wall, across Spandam’s office and through the window before anyone could react. The cyborg yelped in fear as he almost went past the balcony and into the void, his fingers leaving streaks on the floor where he had dug them so as not to fall over.

Drake tried to get back to his feet as soon as he got over his shock of what had just happened. It hadn’t been hard to guess that Franky had thought of a way to get them out of the building, however temporary, but he hadn’t expected to suddenly start flying through the walls. He fell back down before he could even properly get up, Robin having landed on the chain trapping his feet. She got up quickly, becoming fully visible for the lone occupant of the courthouse’s roof and earning a relieved “Robin!” from Luffy.

Franky held out a hand to help Drake get back on his feet, hoisting him up without much effort. Drake thanked him even as he looked with interest at the broken pieces of chains hanging from the cyborg’s now free arms.

“Drake!” Shouted Luffy, and Drake turned his attention toward him, an inaudible sigh leaving his lips at the sight of his unarmed captain standing almost right in front of him.

“I’ll give you time to talk.” Said Franky, sending his fist forward toward one of the agents who had reached them.

‘That’s new.’ Thought Drake, momentarily distracted by the fact that the man next to him had a detachable hand.

“I’m coming for you!” Shouted Luffy, grabbing two of the battlements with his arms.

“Ah, wait!” Said Nami, her voice clearly heard despite the distance between them as she reached the rooftop and took stock of the situation. She threw herself at Luffy, circling his torso with one arm, ready to be rocketed as well inside the tower.

“Don’t do this!” Yelled Robin, startling Nami who looked at her with wide eyes.

“What’re you saying?” Frowned Luffy. “I’m coming to get you. The others will find a way to get here.”

“Ah, yes, Usopp and Chopper were just behind me, maybe just wait for a minute before taking us here.” Said Nami.

“No, don’t come here! Don’t come here at all!” Said Robin. “I’m not in the crew. I’m leaving it, I’ve never been in it.” Her thoughts were all jumbled, she didn’t know what she was saying, only knew that she needed them to back off before CP9 got sent after them and they got killed or tortured because of her. “I don’t want you to come here, I don’t want to see either of you ever again. Just leave me alone!”

“You’re stupid.” Said Luffy, cocking his head to the side as he put one hand on his hip, unimpressed. “You can’t just leave the crew without the captain's permission. And you’ve been with us since Alabasta, because I said so.”

“You’re not listening to me-” She protested hysterically.

“Well, you’re not making any sense.” Cut her off Luffy. “We’re here to save you. Of course we won’t leave you alone.”

“I don’t want to be saved!” Her hands clenched into fists behind her back. “I don’t want to be saved, and I don’t want you to save me. I just want to be left alone and to die!”

“You deserve to be sav- urh.” Lucci removed his knee from Drake's stomach, one hand easily grabbing the back of his neck as he bent in two at the pain.

“Shh, don’t interfere, I’m enjoying this.” The agent admonished. There was a second grunt of pain from somewhere behind him as Kaku kicked Franky hard into the wall.

Drake tried to fight the grip on his neck, tightening his muscle as much as possible for Lucci’s grip to give, but the agent’s hand didn’t move.

‘He’s close, maybe I can elbow him and get away if I’m fast enough-’

“You try anything and I’ll use Shigan on both your shoulders and elbows. You don’t need them to walk to the Gates Of Justice.” Threatened Lucci, his cold voice giving away that he was ready to do that if Drake put too much of a fight.

“Do you really want to die, Robin?” Asked Luffy, his attention sorely focused on her and ignoring everything that was happening around her. “You know what.” He said, before she could take a breath to answer. “We all came here to save you and Drake. You’re free to die if you want, just as I’m free to save you right now. So if you really want to die, then you’ll have to do so after we got the both of you back. Because I won’t allow you to tell me your decision from this far away.”

“You’ll never get her back!” Taunted Spandam, posing proudly. “CP9’s strength is overwhelming, you’ll never defeat them. The Gates of Justice are impenetrable, so even if you manage to get past my agents somehow, you will never be able to get them back once they’ve crossed them. And if this all isn’t enough to intimidate you…” He grabbed something from the inside of his jacket. “I have the authority to command a Buster Call on you at any point in time.”

Drake blanched at the sight of the unusually colored Den Den Mushi. He had never seen a golden Den Den before, had only gotten glimpses of their silver counterparts in Marineford, but they were so distinctive that he hadn’t needed Spandam to say what kind he so carelessly held in his hand to recognize it.

“The very same power that entirely wiped out Nico Robin’s home island, Ohara, from the world!” Spandam finished proudly. There were sharp inhales coming from the courthouse’s roof where all of the Straw Hats had reunited, the latecomers having arrived while they talked. “With just a click on the button here, I can from the tip of my finger unleash a Buster Call right on this island. No one has ever survived a Buster Call before! It’s the ultimate weapon of the World Government, capable of wiping entire islands from the surface of the earth.”

Luffy crossed his arms over his chest, not impressed. “I don’t care how much the island gets destroyed, or how no one survived before. We’ll survive everything you throw at us!”

“You don’t get it!” Protested Robin. “You can’t survive a Buster Call, no one can.” She could see on his face that he wasn’t convinced, and she knew that nothing would make him understand how grave the situation was. No one could picture the sheer destruction that the Buster Call would bring unless they had faced it before. “If I stay with you, you will get attacked by people far too strong because of me. Admirals will come after you!” They had seen how scary Aokiji was, invoking his name would be enough to scare them off, right?

“You won’t get out of here alive for anyone else to attack you.” Laughed Spandam. “Do you even understand that you have invoked the wrath of the World Government? This flag represents the power you will have to face, and you’re mere insects before it!” He shouted, pointing toward the flag fluttering above their heads.

“I’m a pirate.” Said Luffy seriously. “I’m going to be the Pirate King. I’m not afraid to face the whole world if it comes down to it. Usopp.”

Usopp startled at his side, turning to face him. “Yes, captain?”

“Burn that flag.”

He knew perfectly well what it meant. A declaration of intent. A declaration of war.

They never should have attacked his crew.

Usopp didn’t need him to repeat the order. It only took a couple of seconds for him to aim his Kabuto and fire once. Before any of the onlookers had even begun to understand what Luffy had just ordered, the flag combusted in front of their eyes.

“You-” Spluttered Spandam, shocked. “You just declared war on the World Government!”

Robin sagged forward, almost falling to her knees. They were doomed. It didn’t matter what she did, how much she tried to bargain now, her crew was doomed.

“Robin!” Her head raised, meeting Luffy’s determined gaze. The rest of the crew was standing next to him, just as resolved, looking up at her without fear. “Come back to the sea with us!” He ordered. “Said it out loud for me!”

‘No one in this world is destined to be alone.’
‘Live for me, Robin!’

Her vision blurred as tears ran down her face.

“If… If I can be allowed just one wish… Then…”

‘The sea is vast… Someday, surely, you will meet brave friends who will protect you!’

“I WANT TO LIVE!” She yelled back. “Please, take me with you! Take me away from here!”

Chapter Text

“I want to live!” Robin yelled back. “Please, take me with you! Take me away from here!”

Lucci sighed as he released Drake, disappointed that the drama around him had resolved itself and that Robin had found her will to live again. It was still too late; she was bound to end in Impel Down or worse, and nothing and no one would be able to change her future. However, the crew in front of him looked determined to try and give everything they had, and he was looking forward to stopping them, his eyes shining in his eagerness to crush them under his heel.

Spandam grabbed Robin’s arm, tugging her roughly away from the edge. “Someone take Diez Drake and Cutty Flam and get them away from here and to the Gates of Justice! I’ll take Nico Robin myself.” He ordered.

“Oh no you don’t!” Shouted Franky, jumping back to avoid the hands that had tried to grab him, landing precariously on the railing separating the balcony from the void. “After that beautiful display? Ah, I’m not crying, I’m not crying.” He surreptitiously wiped a tear away. “Those guys are really as crazy as you made them sound.” He said, with a nod toward Drake. “And, well, if there are people crazy enough to do all that to protect a teammate, maybe I don’t need to fear the Ancient Weapons quite so much.”

“What?” Asked Spandam.

“I’ve only kept the blueprints for Pluton in fear that one day, some crazy bastard like you would manage to get their hands on one of the other weapons, and building Pluton would be the only way to destroy them before they could destroy the world. But now, well…” He opened his torso, grabbing a stack of paper and holding them in front of him. “I’m seeing that there might be other choices.”

“Shit!” Swore Kaku, understanding what Franky was going to do just a second too late. He ran toward him anyway, but he hadn’t even covered half of the distance that separated them before Franky breathed out a long stream of fire, setting the papers alight.

“Wh-wh-” Stuttered Spandam as the ashes were wiped away by the slight wind before they could even land on the ground, fluttering away.

Lucci let out a low growl of anger. He had spent five years -five!- deep undercover looking for these plans. He almost transformed out of sheer rage at seeing them burn in front of his eyes.

Drake backed away, looking at the falls and the void underneath. He wondered if Luffy would react in time to catch him if he tried to jump, before freezing as he felt Lucci’s attention fall back on him and grimacing, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to act fast enough to do anything in the state he was in. And the agent was probably only waiting for an excuse to vent some of his frustration on him. He was almost radiating bloodthirst.

“We no longer need him, right?” Asked Kaku, turning toward Lucci. For the first time since they had crossed paths on Water Seven, his face had lost that mild expression of amusement. Without the hint of a smile that usually tilted the corner of his mouth, he looked the part of a deadly and remorseless assassin, his hatred no longer hidden behind a flawless mask.

“No we don’t.” Agreed Lucci.

“Good.” Kaku shifted his weight, kicked Franky in the stomach, and sent him flying off the tower.

~~One Piece~~

“That sounded like a clue for us to push that damn lever!” Stated Mozu as Robin’s shout echoed through the courthouse. She dropped the rifle she had been using to bludger one of the agents’ face in, turning to face the rest of the room.

Paulie had tied most of the soldiers together in one corner while the rest of their invading force was finishing dealing with the few that were still standing. They had spread around the courthouse, Mozu and Paulie being backed by part of the Franky Family to lower one of the levers that controlled the drawbridge, while Kiwi and Zambai had gone with the Galley-La to the other side of the building where the second lever was located.

The giants had stayed with Sodom and Gomorrah outside of the courthouse to deal with anyone trying to enter, and the rest of their forces were busy defeating the few marines and jurors that the Straw Hats hadn’t torn through while they rushed to the roof.

They let out shouts of victory when the mechanical noise indicating that the drawbridge was moving started a few seconds after they had pushed up their lever, indicating that Kiwi’s group had succeeded as well.

Mozu put her arm around Paulie’s shoulder, grinning at him brightly and ignoring how red his face was turning, elated at their success.

Until the gunshot rang out.

The reactions across the room were immediate. While no one flinched at the sound, more than a few instinctively moved to protect their face, and Paulie whirled around, grabbing Mozu and dragging her in front of him, using his own body to protect hers.

None of it was needed, as the target of the shot hadn’t been any of the humans in the room.

The bullet hit its goal. One of the delicate pieces of equipment at the bottom of the lever was blown away and the mechanism instantly jerked back up, locking in place.

The grinding of metal on metal as the chains allowing control of the drawbridge jerked to a stop was a very unwelcome sound.

“No.” Breathed out Mozu, eyes wide. She didn’t need to be Franky or a master shipwright to know that there was no repairing the mechanism, not in any time that would make it relevant. She turned to face the man responsible, coming to a stop in front of the downed Marine. “You’re going to die for this.” She vowed as she glared at the soldier, who glared right back.

“You’ll be the ones put down like the dogs you are.” Spat the Marine. He let go of the rifle he has been holding, having used its last bullet. “For Justice.” There was no fear to be found in his gaze as one of the members of the Franky Family pointed his own gun at his face.

“What do we do now?” Mozu asked, turning toward Paulie as a second gunshot resounded through the room.

“There’s not much we can do from here.” He answered with a frown.

“We’re not giving up-”

“Of course not.” He cut her off. “The Straw Hats will find their own way to reach the Tower of Justice, of that I have no doubt. But we won’t be able to follow them. What’s left to do is to take care of the soldiers still left on this island and to carve a path so that when they come back they won’t have to fight anyone to reach the Puffing Tom.”

~~One Piece~~

“You’ll never manage to get here, you’ll be stuck on the courthouse and defeated by the Marines.” Taunted Spandam as the drawbridge stuttered to a stop. “After this whole speech, you’ll stay trapped over there, unable to save anyone.”

“That’s bad.” Muttered Nami, concerned for their allies inside the building.

“I’m not sure I’ll manage to reach the building if I have to take everyone.” Said Luffy, frowning as he looked at the void between the two islands.

On his own, sure. Even with one person grabbing his back, he would have the freedom to stretch his arm and grab the edge of the island if he missed. But if he had to take everyone with him then both of his arms would be occupied.

“Damn.” Cursed Nami. “Go on your own, or take one person with you. We’ll find a way to get there on our own.”

“Wait.” Said Luffy, seeing something from the corner of his eyes. “Everyone grab onto me.” He ordered with a smile, arms stretching on each side until they were behind every member of his crew.

“Luffy?”
“What are you-”
“Don’t don’t DOOON’T!”

With a “Shishishi”, Luffy jumped into the void, dragging them down without a care for how they struggled to get away. They barely had the time to see their life flash in front of their eyes before they were suddenly rammed into by the Rocket Man, crashing into a falling Franky and then into the building.

Spandam stared wide-eyed at the newly created hole in the tower. “There’s a train in my building.”

He managed to get over his shock after a time, turning and pointing dramatically at Lucci.

“Lucci! I’m leaving the tower. To escort the prisoners to the Gate of Justice, of course.” Even if he wouldn’t admit that he was just afraid of being in the same building as the Straw Hats, everyone knew it. “You’re coming with me. Your task is to protect me, you understand? The rest of you, do your job and crush those pirates!”

~~One Piece~~

“How did you even survive this?” Asked Franky, watching as the Straw Hats went to their feet, utterly unharmed and complaining to Luffy that he could have warned them.

“I’m rubber.”

“You haven’t been hurt either.” Pointed out Sanji.

“Yeah, but I’m just super like that.”

“So, you’re Franky, right?” Asked Nami. “Your friends were worried about you.”

“Yeah, yeah, well. I’m the one worried about them!”

“Chapapa.” Their heads jerked up and toward the sound, to see that one of the Cipher Pol agents was hanging on around the ceiling, looking down at them. “Ah. They’ve seen me.”

Given that the man’s body was entirely round, his small legs and arms sticking out on each side to help him hang onto the ceiling, it was rather hard to miss him. His mouth, which for some reason was in the shape of a zipper, was only half open, one side zipped shut.

“Oi, you bastard! Get down there so I can beat you up!” Shouted Luffy.

“It doesn’t matter if you defeat me, chapapa.” He said through the corner of his mouth that wasn’t shut.

“It'd make me feel better,” Zoro grumbled.

“Only beating one of us won’t allow you to release Nico Robin or Diez Drake.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Nami, immediately taking advantage of the enemy being willing to give them intel.

“Every Cipher Pol agent still in the building has a key in his possession. They’ll only be able to work on one set of cuffs, and you won’t be able to know which one is useful and which isn’t until you’ve tried them.” Fukurou explained, holding out a key with a 4 engraved on it for them to see.

“So we need to defeat everyone?” Asked Nami.

“You won’t be able to, chapapa. All the members of CP9 are masters of Rokushiki. Lucci has a strength of 4000 doriki, which is worth an army of four hundred soldiers. You’ll never defeat him.”

With a last laugh he blurred out of sight, leaving them behind.

“They each have a key? How many people is that?” Asked Usopp.

“There are six of them. Well, seven if you count Blueno, but your captain defeated him earlier. They all were on the balcony. But there’s no doubt that Spandam would take Lucci with him to guard Robin and Drake, so that leaves five keys.” Said Franky.

“Lucci’s mine.” Immediately ordered Luffy.

“Alright.” Easily agreed Nami, looking around the room. “That leaves five opponents, and we’re five… Unless Franky, you want to join?”

“As if I’d let those bastards go without taking my revenge!”

“Alright. I’ll search through the building because I doubt there is only one copy of the keys. There must be a double somewhere, probably in the office of this Spandam guy. It would prevent us from being trapped in a fight and allow us to rescue them faster.”

“I’ll go with you.” Decided Usopp. “Since we have one more fighter, we can afford to make a pair. And I’ll protect you from any danger, you don’t need to worry.”

“Sure, sure. The quicker we leave, the quicker we’ll get them back… And Luffy has already left.” She sighed, well used to her captain's impatience.

As she and Usopp left together, Sanji was breathing deeply, eyes closed as he meditated. He quickly started to feel his friends leave in different directions, a bright aura that could only be Zoro’s the only one remaining in the room. His senses extended outward as he forced his haki to spread out, until he felt another two strong presences of similar strength up in the building.

“What are you still doing here?” He asked as he opened his eyes.

“You found the strongest opponents, right?” Asked Zoro. “It’ll be better if I don’t have to fight every weakling on my path and can just find the biggest guy around.”

“Well, Luffy is definitely getting the biggest threat. But yes, there are two people up there that are stronger than the others.” His range wasn’t large enough to surround the whole building, so he had no way of knowing if the two he had felt were really the strongest, but he had the feeling he was right.

“Then let’s go.” With his haki activated, it was easy for Sanji to feel Zoro’s presence almost vibrating at the thought of the incoming fight.

“Not this way, dumbass.”

~~One Piece~~

“Nagagagaga… Did they forget about us?”

“Oh no, Granny, what’re we gonna do?”

“Nya!”

“Gombe’s right, let’s find where they’re storing their alcohol.”

~~One Piece~~

“The first guy is here,” Sanji told Zoro as he slowed down near the entrance of a room. The building was strangely built, and they had managed to first reach the enemy that was waiting on the higher floor instead of the lower one. “I’ll go look for my own opponent. You better win, for every- for Robin chan’s sake, alright?”

“As if I’d ever lose.” Shot back Zoro, entering the room without looking back.

He immediately recognized Kaku inside, the agent sitting on a chair in the middle of the room as if he had been waiting for his opponent to come to him.

“We didn’t have the opportunity to face each other before.” Said Kaku, smoothly getting up and grabbing the two swords that had been leaning against the back of the chair.

“Sanji told me you were one of the strongest fighters around here.”

“Indeed I am. I am the second strongest in CP9, only Lucci surpasses me.”

“Were you the one that defeated Drake?” Kaku blinked in surprise at the question, before a pleased smile broke on his face. He seemed so open with his expressions that Zoro couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing working as a spy.

“Partly.” He admitted, and Zoro's hands clenched on his swords. “I dueled him for a time, but Lucci intervened to make his defeat quicker.” His smile widened a little. “I didn’t need his help. I would have won on my own.”

“Good to know.” Luffy would take care of Rob Lucci, of that there was no doubt. Now, it came down to Zoro to defeat the other member directly involved in Drake’s capture, the other strong enough to have dueled the zoan and come out without any visible injuries. He didn’t put much stock in his assessment of how the fight would have gone, but the fact that he was seemingly unarmed was telling. Drake was a bruiser, and it was hard to come unscathed out of a fight with him, no matter how short. “I’ll have to take this fight seriously then.” He admitted, tying his bandana over his hair.

“Yes you will.” Stated Kaku, jumping toward him before he could grab his swords again, the agent wanting to see how the other swordsman would react to Cipher Pol's scorn of the mere concept of honor. He was interested in a real fight, after all those years undercover in Water Seven where the strongest on the island were his coworkers and some of the Galley-La, but he wouldn’t care to fight fair if his enemy wasn’t worth his time.

Zoro’s arm came up on instinct between Kaku’s sword and his face, and he grunted in pain as his haki was too slow to appear, fast enough to prevent his arm from being cut off but not to protect him entirely. Kaku’s eyebrows rose in surprise as his sword was stopped by a barely bleeding bare arm.

“Interesting.”

Zoro grinned at him, his free hand grabbing Wado and drawing it out, forcing Kaku to jump back if he wanted to avoid getting cut in half. He easily landed on his feet after a flip, his posture wary and ready to react to any incoming attack. Zoro didn’t wait to launch a flurry of slashes, each getting countered by Kaku’s swords.

“Interesting.” He echoed as their swords locked against each other, their muscles straining to try to get the advantage over the other. They disengaged at the same time, stepping back to openly study each other now that they had taken the measure of each other’s strength.

Kaku tilted his head to the side, considering. Swords were his first love, but it had been beaten into him that he couldn’t always rely on his weapon of choice when doing his job. All those years as a Galley-La worker, preceded by various assassination and infiltrations jobs, meant that he hadn’t often had the opportunity to duel with his swords except during training fights against his fellow agents, and none of them were swordsmen. Furthermore, he knew his strength, and he wasn’t too proud to admit to himself that with swordsmanship alone, he wasn’t sure he would be able to win this fight against Zoro. But he had recently gained an advantage, and he wasn’t afraid to use it.

~~One Piece~~

Sanji slowed down as he got near the rooms where he could feel a second presence, similar in strength to the one he had left for Zoro. He hoped it meant he hadn’t misjudged their opponent's strength and there were stronger people still in the building. But, no, Franky had told them there were only six agents, five with Rob Lucci gone from the building. He was sure that he had felt at least a couple of people in the lower levels, all at least twice as weak as the two he had just felt in the last minutes. And those two were strong, there was no doubting that. Weaker than him or Zoro, but near enough in strength that they wouldn’t win easily.

Not that there was any risk of them ever losing, not with the life of their crewmates literally on the line.

He cautiously entered the room, noticing distractedly that the decor was rather strange, as if someone had tried to recreate a garden inside. Most of his attention was on the man sleeping in the middle of the room. Or, more importantly, faking being asleep. He didn’t need any extra powers to know that the man in front of him was wide awake, despite his pretty realistic snores.

Resting on the floor just in front of him was a key. He almost snorted at the obvious trap. It was honestly pissing him off, that this agent thought he was dumb enough to fall into it, and that he thought he could afford to play those little games as if his opponent wasn’t worth putting his all into it.

Luffy would be able to get the key before the man could react. Sanji was pretty sure he would be able to as well, if he managed to take him by surprise with his speed. He didn’t doubt that Nami, the pretty thief, would take the key and everything of value on the man and in this room without him even noticing anything.

This man was underestimating him, underestimating the whole of the Straw Hats, and coupled with Robin’s emotional display from earlier, he was getting seriously pissed off. You couldn’t attack his crew and make a woman cry in front of his eyes, make her doubt her right to be alive, without having to face the consequences.

“I know you’re awake, asshole.” He said, none of his anger showing in his voice as he stalked into the room, casually lighting up a cigarette.

His opponent stayed silent and unmoving for a few more seconds.

“Honestly, if you’re playing this game, I’m just going to leave and try to find a more worthy opponent.” He wouldn’t, since he couldn’t risk the other members of the crew having to fight this man. Nami was a goddess, and she shouldn’t have to waste her time fighting those people when she could do something far more important, like rescuing Robin.

“There isn’t anyone better than me here.” Snarled the man, jumping to his feet and giving up on the pretense.

“Right. You’re just going to give me that, or should I have to take it by force?” He asked, nodding toward the key still on the floor.

“I…” He crouched, grabbed the key and looked at it for a few seconds, before holding out his hand palm up, the key resting in the middle. “My name is Jyabura. I’ve worked for the government since I was a child, but before that I was one of Robin’s friends. Please, take this key and free her, for I can not do it.”

“Oh, you were a childhood friend?” Sanji asked, taking a few steps closer to Jyabura.

“Yes. She is very dear to me, but I can’t free her as long as she’s under the other agents’ guard. You’re my only chance of saving her!”

“Sure, then. I’m happy to do that for you.” Sanji held out his hand toward Jyabura.

“Thank you!” Exclaimed the agents, before the grateful smile on his face turned into a smirk. Without any warning, he suddenly turned into a wolf and jumped toward Sanji, claws outstretched.

“As if anyone would fall for that.” Sanji grunted, surprised by the appearance of a Devil Fruit but not by the strength behind the attack that he had easily blocked with his leg. He had rather accurately judged the other man’s strength.

“Most do.” Grinned Jyabura, rather put out that Sanji hadn’t fallen for his trick but still glad that he would at least have a decent fight. He would show Kaku who was the strongest of them all. “I’m the big bad wolf, tricking people is what I do. And when they fall into my traps…” He licked his lips, showing his teeth.

“If you’re a wolf, then I’m the hunter who- gah!?” Sanji let out a squeal of shock as the ceiling suddenly collapsed above his head, having to jump back to avoid getting crushed by the debris. Some big, yellow thing fell down in the middle of the room, followed by a flash of green he could recognize everywhere. ‘Is that a giraffe?’

“What the fuck was that?” He and Jyabura shouted at the same time, both talking to a different person.

“Shouldn’t you have gone away to get your own fight?” Asked Zoro.

“You just dropped down in the middle of it!”

“Gyya ah ah! I knew you had the worst Devil Fruit out there, but I didn’t know it would make you look even more like a dumbass.” Mocked Jyabura.

“You’re just-” Kaku cut off his move to lift his head in disdain as he almost hit the remnants of the roof. “-jealous that I’m obviously the superior animal.” He continued smoothly.

“Want to say that again?” Growled the wolf zoan.

“What, getting deaf in your old age?” Snarled the giraffe one.

“You’re unable not to cause problems for everyone around you, couldn’t you defeat your own enemy? Did you have to drag him to me so I had to do your job?” Taunted Sanji.

“Want to repeat that to my face?” Zoro said to gritted teeth, getting in Sanji’s face.

“Bring it on, mosshead, I’m not scared of you.”

“Transformation: Human Beast Form”

Jyabura literally howling with laughter brought their attention back to their designated enemies, to see the wolf rolling on the floor, laughing so hard he was crying as Kaku stood next to him, frowning.

“Is he serious?” Muttered Zoro, watching as Kaku stood there looking ridiculous, still having the height of a giraffe with a long neck but having gotten square all over, especially his nose which had gotten back to the length it had as a human.

“Oh, he totally suits you as an enemy.” Said Sanji mockingly. “He’s just as lame.”

“You-” Spluttered Zoro.

“Giraffes aren’t lame!” Shouted Kaku. “You're going to pay for this. Rankyaku.”

Zoro immediately crouched, grabbing Sanji and forcing him down, the wind blade passing just above their head and hitting the wall.

“Shit…” Muttered Sanji, eyes wide as the ground began to shake, the tremors almost making him lose his footing. The slash had been powerful enough to cut through the whole tower, and the ceiling slowly began to glide down, revealing the blue sky above them.

“We have to take this seriously.” Said Zoro while Kaku and Jyabura started shouting at each other about being careless.

“You don't have to remind me.” Said Sanji. He looked around the room. It had already been big before, but now with half of it uncovered there was more than enough space for Kaku and Zoro to fight without being hindered.

“I'll take my fight away from here.” He offered. There was no need to step on each other's toes, and he had no need for space to defeat Jyabura, the wolf zoan bigger than him but not enough to be a problem.

“I'm not sure your guy is going to follow you.” Said Zoro, raising his voice to be heard over the others' bickering. “He doesn't look strong enough to defeat even you. They will have to team up if they ever want to have a chance in defeating me.”

Kaku and Jyabura's eyes darkened at that and they lost all traces of mirth that their bantering had brought to their expression.

"Oh, you're on." Said Jyabura menacingly.

Chapter Text

“Find a key, try to avoid everyone, find a key, try to avoid everyone…” Chanted Chopper under his breath as he rushed through the building in Walk Point. He had chosen to go on his own rather than follow Nami and Usopp because he knew they needed to spread out in the hope of finding the keys more quickly. On one hoof, he hoped that he would cross paths with one of the CP9 because that meant that he would get the chance to get one of the keys, and hopefully one that matched either Robin or Drake’s cuffs. On the other hoof, he was afraid that he wouldn’t be strong enough to defeat anyone on his own, and would either cause problems to the others by forcing them to leave their own fight to assist him, or would be defeated because there was no one close enough to help him.

But it wasn’t like he had any choice, not if he wanted the crew to leave together. Drake and Robin both had been nice to him, and he would never leave them behind.

He cried out in surprise as a staff embedded itself into the ground right in front of him, missing him by a hair's breadth. The impact had been strong enough to pierce right through the floor, and he had no doubt it would have done the same to his body if it hadn’t missed.

“Yoyoi! I have missed!”

“Ah! You’re one of the Cipher Pol agents.” Recognized Chopper. He had only seen him from afar, but the agents were all different enough that he had no trouble recognizing them.

“Yoyoi! Indeed I am! I am Kumadori, of CP9, and I will be your enemy today! Prepare to die, Yoyoi!”

Instead of trying to get his staff back or attacking normally, the man’s pink hair seemed to get a life of its own, starting to move unnaturally around him. The hair suddenly straightened and rushed toward Chopper, piercing the building around him as he ran away to avoid them, zigzagging on the floor. Shifting into Heavy Point, he turned around and punched a lock of air away from him. It only got deflected for a second before the hair turned around mid-air and rushed at him again, this time hitting him. He managed to cross his arms in front of his chest at the last moment to protect himself. The attack struck one of his arms, leaving a hole behind, and he shouted in pain.

“What is that? A devil fruit?” Asked Chopper, staring at the moving hair.

“Yoyoi, I don’t need a devil fruit to have control of my body. I trained for a thousand years, and as the breath of the wind and the wilderness of the river were the only things left in my mind, I unlocked the ability to control every part of my body, from the depths of my soul to the end of my hairs. Such is the Life Return!”

“Life Return?” He jumped back as the hair attacked once again, coming from multiple directions at once. “Being able to control your whole body… It sounds like a type of Bio-Feedback. He’ll be a strong opponent.” As someone who had long struggled to control his body and to learn what it was capable of doing, Chopper knew what it meant that his opponent had mastered such a technique.

“I won’t be able to defeat him using only my basic transformations, and I don’t have time to waste if I want to save Drake and Robin.” He grabbed a Rumble Ball from his bag, its reddish color taking him by surprise, still unused to the improved version he had created on Long Ring Long Land.

“I have eight minutes now… And I plan to make them count!” With that he tensed the muscles of his arms and brought them by his side, charging his next attack and jumping in front of Kumadori who was surprised by the sudden move.

“Arm Point! Kokutei: Roseo Metel.” He shouted, his hooves leaving multiple impacts on his opponent's body as he struck him with his strongest attack.

“That hurt, Yoyoi… And you didn’t give me time to properly activate my Tekkai. But it will take more than that to defeat me!
Thunder screams rivals
Me shaking my very soul
Quiets waves spirit.”

“Are… Are you alright?” Asked Chopper. He was sure he hadn’t hit anywhere that could cause a concussion or other types of brain damage.

~~One Piece~~

“Come on, in a big-ass building, they have to have a kitchen somewhere…” Muttered Franky as he opened the door to yet another useless room. He hoped to find Cola to regain his strength, but he would settle for an armory or anything that would allow him to open sea-stone cuffs. Sure, he wanted to break the agents’ faces, but preventing the two others from getting into the Government’s possession was far more important.

“Chapapapapa.”

Well. It seemed like he would at least get his desire for revenge fulfilled. He whirled around, coming to a stop and turning to face where the sound had come from.

“So.” Started Franky, cracking his knuckles. “Wanna tell me who has the keys for Robin and Drake’s cuffs, or should I beat the answer out of you?” The CP9 agent who had told them about the keys was standing in the corridor across from him, if ‘standing’ was the right word to use to describe how the man was seemingly floating in a corner under the ceiling, able to stay upright just by the strength of his legs bent to push each against a different wall.

“I’m a trained CP9 agent, chapapa. You won’t be able to defeat me.” Franky idly noted that those guys seem idly intent on posturing. First Neko, then most of the others when they reunited with the rest of their team in Spandam’s office, and now here. And sure, intimidation and reminders that you were strong and not worth trying to fight was a valid technique, one he taught his family to protect them, but it was only used by two types of people: those that were really far stronger than their opponent and would rather not waste time in a fight, and those that were weaker or not sure that they’d win and tried to avoid finding out. And well, even if he got his ass ended to him when they first attacked him at the Franky House -and he could admit to himself that he would have lost even if they hadn’t been underhanded enough to attack the members of his family to destabilize him- being more or less able to defeat Neko and managing to take the agents by surprise, first by escaping Spandam’s office and reaching the balcony and then burning the plans for Pluton before they could get them, had shown him that they were not so far above him in strength that they could be sure of their victory.

Sure, he wouldn’t be at full strength until he could get Cola, but that had never stopped him before and it wasn’t going to stop him now.

“Strong Right.” He shouted, extending his fist in front of him. Fukurou didn’t do anything to avoid it, taking the hit head-on.

“That was weak.” The agent taunted, quitting his corner and landing on the ground in front of Franky. “Let me show you what a right hook really is.” His fist smashed into Franky’s face before he could react, sending him crashing into a wall. He grabbed his jaw, glad to feel that the metal in it hadn’t bent under the hit. He was sure that had it hit one of the few parts of his body that weren’t reinforced, he would have gotten a broken bone.

“I didn’t feel anything.” He taunted back, mind racing. He really needed to get that Cola right now, because his punches were only at half strength and he was at a disadvantage over his opponent, who wasn’t pulling his. “But let’s see how you react to that.” He cocked his fist back as if charging a strike. Fukurou called out something too lowly for him to hear, locking his knee and getting ready to tank the attack once more.

“Super… distraction.” He bolted to the side, rushing toward a corridor he hadn’t explored yet.

“Bastard!” Shouted Fukurou at his back.

“I’ll face you head-on as soon as -ugh.” Fukurou reappeared in front of him, hitting him hard in the stomach, stopping his momentum instantly. The agent didn’t stop in his attacks, furious at Franky’s deception and intent to press his advantage for as long as possible. He put more strength into the last hit, sending Franky flying this time straight through the wall and out of the building. He instinctively turned before hitting the ground, protecting his back from the fall.

He scowled as Fukurou appeared in the newly made hole, preventing him from coming back inside. He certainly wouldn’t be finding a kitchen here, there was only grass under his feet, the tower in front of him, and the waterfall leading to certain death at his back. He hadn’t seen anything looking like a Devil Fruit from his opponent, so the open water behind him wasn’t even something he could use, if he had even wanted to risk it. He was a good swimmer, had learned at a young age with Tom as a teacher, but even he wouldn’t be able to fight the weird currents around there for long.

“I’ll have to do this the normal way, uh.” That meant no secret weapons, no hidden artillery, and no extra punch to his… punches. At least his body was still reinforced despite his lack of fuel, and he wasn’t totally defenseless. Just far less strong than he had gotten used to.

He would just have to use his head. You couldn’t become the head of a family as big as his just through strength alone, and he hadn’t won over anyone with promises, at least not at first. He had to work to gain everyone’s loyalty and ensure that they become near untouchable.

Fukurou jumped off the tower, landing in front of him, still between him and the building.

“Come here.” Said Franky seriously, taking on a proper fighting posture. Fukurou copied him, and even if his shorter limb made the pose look weird on him, there was no doubt that he knew what he was doing.

Before they could start their fight Fukurou was suddenly hit by an explosion from behind, sending him flying forward. Franky reacted only by reflex, punching him in the face and sending him back. He immediately looked around, trying to find the source of the attack, but not finding anything.

Until he looked up, not noticing anything either at first, but the small hint of movement from near the top of the tower made him focus, and he suddenly realized that what he was seeing was one of the Straw Hats. The one who had put fire to the government flag earlier. He was holding his weapon in his hands, clearly drawn and targeting the agent.

Franky was knowledgeable about guns and other projectile weapons, mostly because he used them as part of his arsenal, and while he wouldn’t call himself an expert marksman -there was a reason why he preferred automatic weapons and large-caliber ones, and it wasn’t because he was trying to compensate for anything- he still had a good idea of how hard a shot like that could be. Being able to hit a target accurately from this high up, almost parallelly to the edge of the tower where the winds would be the strongest, was a feat that very few could do.

Fukurou had obviously noticed his new opponent, ignoring Franky and using one of these weird powers they all had to start to fly, clearly intent on reaching the sniper, who read his goal according to the panicked “eep” he could hear from that far down.

“I’m the one you’re fighting.” Protested Franky, sending his left hand high up and grabbing Fukurou’s feet, preventing him from rising higher. Fukurou started to struggle, trying to dislodge his hand to no avail. Franky dug his feet in the ground and with a shout dragged his hand back toward the rest of his arm, Fukurou coming with it and crashing into the ground at his feet.

“Oh, you’re going to pay for that, chapapapa.” The two started to trade blows, close to evenly matched, before a pellet whizzed past Franky’s ear, hitting Fukurou in the face and lighting him on fire.

“That was dangerous bro.” He called out, using the agent's distraction to grab him by the corner of his mouth and smashed him into the ground. “Stay!” He lifted him above his head, sending him toward the building. “Down!” Fukurou managed to turn around mid-air and landed on his feet.

“Can’t he send something useful like Cola?” He grouched as a barrage of projectiles assaulted Fukurou, preventing him from reaching Franky and gaining the upper hand. “Then again, what he’s doing isn’t useless…” He crouched next to the remnant of one of the projectiles, trusting Usopp to protect him for the time being. Even if he didn’t have the fuel to send his own bullets, he still had the raw materials stocked inside his body. From what he could see of the pellet, it was very basic but ingenious, sensitive but just enough not to ignite while the sniper manipulated them.

“I still have empty bottles, I can take the accelerant from this prototype laser…” He muttered under his breath, back turned toward Fukurou. “Tadam!” He turned around after three seconds of tinkering, facing the agent once more, who managed at the same time to use his speed and evade Usopp’s attacks, taking shelter at the edge of the building. “Suuuper… Improvised, improved Molotov Cocktail!" He shouted, throwing the repurposed Cola bottle at his enemy. Instead of a small explosion causing fire to spread out, the fire fueled a second, bigger explosion which surrounded Fukurou entirely.

When the fire finally started to stop burning and the smoke cleared up enough to see through, it revealed an unconscious, burned up body.

“Eh. Good job bro!” Shouted Franky, making two thumbs up toward the top of the building. “Now, a key, a key, where did he hide his key… Ah, here, good!” He grabbed the fourth key, slipping it inside one of the hidden pockets inside his stomach.

~~One Piece~~

“I took too long, I took too long!” Cried Chopper as he ran through the building. “Why couldn’t I defeat him quicker?”

As if to answer him, the wall at his back exploded, revealing a heavily injured, but still able to fight, Kumadori.

“Come back!”

“Nooo I don’t want to!” Wailed Chopper, avoiding Kumadori’s locks of hair that ended up piercing the wall instead.

“What do I do, what do I do…” He muttered in despair. “I can’t eat another Rumble Ball yet, and I’m not strong enough without it to defeat him. But…” For a second he imagined Kumadori coming after Nami or Usopp. The two of them were super strong, sure, but not as strong as Zoro and Sanji, and they didn’t have the same mobility as him. What would they do against an opponent such as Kumadori? Especially since he wasn’t the only enemy around, there were still the other agents that needed to be defeated.

“I need to defeat him.” He decided. “But I’m not strong enough, I can’t do it.” What good did it do to improve the duration of his Rumble Balls if he was still too weak to win? Would eating a second one even do anything? It hadn’t been enough to win against Gedatsu back on Skypiea.

Still…

He skidded to a stop, hooves dragging against the floor.

“Even if I fail, I have to try.” His teeth clenched against the second Rumble Ball as Kumadori rushed into the corridor. Seeing that the pirate was no longer fleeing, he took a second to get his breath back, the chase and preceding assault having taken their toll.

“Yoyoi! Get ready, pirate!”

‘I need to hit him a second time with a Roseo Metel.’ Now that he had taken a little distance from the battle, he could clearly see the damage that his first attack had done. If he managed to use it a second time, then Kumadori would either get defeated or he would get weakened enough that Chopper would have a chance of defeating him without resorting to his strongest attack.

Even if he wasn’t enough, if he could hurt his enemy enough that none of the others would have any trouble defeating them, then it was good enough for him.

“It doesn’t matter if I’ve defeated him on my own.” He murmured, eyeing Kumadori’s staff as the agent readied a strike. “What matters is that he gets taken down in the end.”

With that he jumped toward Kumadori, focusing on his body reaction.

“Arm Point!” He could feel immediately as he started the transformation that he wouldn’t end up in Arm Point. Even if he hadn’t learned yet to control his shifting, all the training he had been through on Long Ring Long Land paid off as he instinctively knew that he would end up in Horn Point. It wasn’t optimal -if his body refused to shift into his Arm Point, he would have preferred to reach either the Jump or the Guard Point, which would have allowed him to either evade or absorb the attack.

Still, the half a second warning he now had when changing forms allowed him to think of a plan, and he caught the staff with his newly grown antlers. He dug his fingers into the floor as Kumadori put all his weight into his attack, almost sending Chopper flying. In the end, thanks to his strengthened upper body in this form, he wasn’t the one that ended up yielding and the staff slipped out of Kumadori’s grasp instead.

‘This is the best opportunity I’ll have.’ He started to run forward, attempting a first transformation mid-distance.

“Come on, Arm Point!” He growled as he shifted into Jump Point instead, but jumped high above the ground and over Kumadori’s head, landing behind him. His body refused to transform a second time so soon, but Chopper still cocked his arms back, ready to unleash his attack.

Kumadori started to turn around, hair snapping toward Chopper, who understood that if he didn’t end up in Arm Point right now then he would lose. His body still refused to change, his muscle protesting as he tried to force them into shape, until suddenly, so suddenly that it took him by surprise, he ended up in Arm Point, arms more than doubling in volume as his muscle bulged up.

“Kokutei: Roseo Metel!” He shouted, the barrage of attacks landing in between Kumadori’s strands of hair and onto his back. The agent arched under the hits, his spine contorting as his body took a second beating in less than half an hour.

Kumadori dropped to his knees before falling face-first on the floor, motionless hair falling around his head.

“I did it.” Said Chopper as he started astonished at his opponent's body. “I did it!” He barely had the time to rejoice before his muscles tightened all at once and he crumpled on the floor, pain suddenly coursed through his body.

He started coughing as he suddenly reverted back into his Brain Point, small body twisting on the ground as the pain flared up even higher.

Some instincts, coming from years as a doctor that had taught him to recognize the signs in others, had him turn to the side just before he started to throw up.

He let out a whine of pain as the tremors coursing through his body subsided and opened his eyes to see the remnants of a half-digested Rumble Ball sitting in a puddle of bile.

“But I tested…” Even as he started talking his brain shot ahead. He had trained eating two Rumble Balls in quick succession, yes, but he had developed the latest version of his Rumble Ball on the last day of their stay on the Long Island, and as such never had gotten the opportunity to try the two of them together.

“After all this time I still can’t make a version that doesn’t have side effects.” He muttered as he rolled to his feet, miserably taking a few steps as his body kept feeling wrong. “Previous experiments lead me to believe they’ll disappear in a few minutes.” Despite his attempt at reassuring himself, he knew he would still be miserable until his devil fruit stabilized. Ignoring the way his left arm rippled, fur lengthening and shortening at quick intervals, he walked toward the pink-haired man.

He let out a small sound of victory as he grabbed the key hidden inside his suit pocket.

“Number three.” He read out loud. “I need to find the others.”

Chapter Text

“Who built this tower? It’s such a maze…” Grumbled Nami. She was currently looking for an office, hoping that she would either find a copy of the keys or some important files that would end up being useful. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to explore one of the government’s islands. Who knew when she would ever get one again? She had learned all kinds of interesting things infiltrating the Marines bases back in the East Blue, so it stood to reason that doing the same in the Grand Line would have similar results.

Enies Lobby was even better than a normal Marine base. The island housed Cipher Pol, the Marines, but also a courthouse, meaning that they would have all sorts of files on various pirates as well as the government. Sure, Drake was a never-ending source of information, Robin not far behind him, but there were still things that the government kept hidden from the world that the two of them had no chance of knowing. Drake’s intel was also a year out of date, and Robin had only ever sailed in various blues and the first half of the Grand Line. Nami was confident that the crew could handle everything they met here, but the New World was still a source of unknown and a quite frightening one at that, and she hoped to learn everything she could about it while she still had the time, not once she got thrust into it.

She was used to sneaking around in heels and the various techniques that came with it not to make a sound. It was the only reason why she noticed the slight sounds coming from across the corridor.

‘Someone’s coming!’

She twirled the clima-tact in her hands, bringing it in front of her as she whispered, barely more than a breath, “Mirage Tempo”. It was a good thing she did, as a woman she immediately identified as Kalifa entered the hallway just a moment later.

She stopped breathing entirely as she walked past her without noticing anything.

‘She’s supposed to have one of the keys.’ She remembered, squinting as her eyes roved over Kalifa’s form, trying to notice where she could have hidden them. ‘Her dress is so skin-tight there’s only one place where she can have hidden it.’ And she might be a good thief, but even she would have trouble reaching there without being noticed. ‘It only leaves me with one choice.’

“Thunder Ball.” She mouthed, cringing when each ball made a small sound as it came out of her clima-tact. She had trained with Usopp’s improved version of her weapon while on Long Ring Long Land but had never noticed that it wasn’t entirely silent. Luckily they were hidden behind her mirage as well, not revealing where she was standing.

Predictably, Kalifa stopped walking, her eyes scanning suspiciously around the corridor. She held out a hand in front of her, fingers spread out.

‘Shit, that looks like the start of an attack!’ She pointed the end of her clima-tact toward Kalifa, sending all of the bubbles at once. The agent’s eyes widened as they appeared out of nowhere, throwing herself to the side in an attempt to avoid them. She still got hit multiple times, a scream leaving her mouth as she convulsed.

“Bubble Wave!” She called out, a wave of bubbles soaring through the corridor.

Nami whirled to press against the wall, only the arm not holding the clima tact getting hit by the attack.

‘What’s that?’ She wondered, looking at her arm’s new look. It was entirely smooth, her fingers stuck together with only her thumb able to move independently. ‘I can let her touch me with any attack!’ She understood as she noticed that the corridor hadn’t escaped unscathed either, the stones all melted into each other and the corner where the walls met the ground having become rounder.

With another twirl of her clima-tact, she made an illusion of herself appear further away, peeking from behind the corner. Kalifa immediately noticed, starting to walk toward her as Nami made her illusion run away.

‘I can’t risk fighting her from up close. I need to reunite with Usopp.’ He had stayed behind, near one of the windows when he had noticed a fight going on on the ground, while she had continued to move forward. She wasn’t able to do long-range attacks like the sniper and would have to stay in Kalifa’s attack range to use her clima-tact. Usopp would be able to help her without getting in danger.

She had barely taken a few steps away from the area she had hidden behind her illusions when she heard Kalifa coming back, rushing toward where she was no longer hidden.

“She noticed!” She squeaked, before taking out in a run. “Usopp was up there, I hope he didn’t move away…” She cried out in fear as an attack barely missed her, crashing harmlessly into the wall above her head. “Usopp!” She screamed as she reached a bigger room, with no hope for her to dodge and avoid Kalifa’s widespread attacks.

‘I need to stall-’ The thought barely had the time to cross her head before Kalifa’s was already upon her, arms spread wide.

“Golden Hour.”
“Fire Bird Star!”

The projectile reached Kalifa just a fraction of a second too late, fire exploding in her face. Nami tried to take a step back but fell down, her legs slipping against the ground. She watched with wide eyes as most of her body had been transformed by Kalifa’s attack. Her right hand clenched on her clima-tact, noticing with relief that only her little and ring fingers had been hit, leaving her with enough fingers to have a chance to use her weapon.

~~One Piece~~

“ROBIN! DRAKE!”

Drake slowed down without thinking. ‘I’m sure I just heard…’

“It seems that we have a tail.” Said Lucci at the same time.

Robin’s head snapped up from where she was looking at the floor, her wide eyes meeting Drake’s.

“What?” Asked Spandam, before he understood what Lucci was saying. “Are they utterly unable to take care of even the simplest of missions? They were supposed to prevent them from reaching us!”

“You should take both prisoners away. I’ll have to take care of this by myself.” Said Lucci, pushing Drake toward Spandam. He had been the one to guard the zoan, his greater strength meaning that he would have little problem in stopping him.

“Alone? Aren’t you supposed to protect me?” Protested Spandam.

“We won’t reach the Gates of Justice in time if I don’t stop him right now.”

‘Luffy.’ Mouthed Drake when Robin furrowed her brows, wondering who of the crew had managed to follow them here. She nodded in understanding, her worried expression not lessening but an air of tired understanding crossing her face. If anyone managed to get around the Cipher Pol agents -he doubted they would have been able to defeat everyone in the short time it had taken them to reach the underwater passage- it was their captain.

“But you’re right.” Continued Lucci, his grip on Drake’s arm tightening. “Leaving you in charge of the two prisoners isn’t a good idea. We wouldn’t want them to entertain any idea of overpowering you and escaping.”

The ‘we wouldn't dare’ was on top of Drake’s tongue, but he swallowed it back. Lucci looked far too darkly amused for his next words to be anything pleasant.

“I’ll have to make sure there’s no chance they can escape, then.” He smirked at Drake, relishing in his look of uncertainty and panic as his free hand took a posture Drake recognized all too easily, one finger pointing up while the rest of the hand formed a fist.

Drake whirled around, throwing all his weight in the move, taking Lucci by surprise enough that the attack missed its target, punching a hole into the wall behind him. The agent still reacted quickly, using Drake’s own momentum to send him crashing back first into the nearest wall.

“Drake!” Gasped Robin as Lucci easily trapped him, preventing him from moving again.

Lucci only smirked as he grabbed Drake’s left shoulder with his hand, fingers spread.

“You’re left-handed, right?” It was more an observation than a question, and Drake wisely kept quiet that he was ambidextrous.

“Don’t you dare-” Drake cut off with a gasped sound of pain as with barely any indication, Lucci’s fingers suddenly ended up borrowed inside his shoulder, breaking through skin and bones easily and piercing his body right through, the tip of his fingers embedding into the wall.

“I could cripple you.” Lucci hissed, low enough that only the two zoans could hear.

“I’m not one of your victims that will bend over and take whatever you dish out.” Drake spat back, forgetting all concepts of trying to stay unharmed in the face of Lucci’s challenge. “You’d do well to remember that I’m a predator as well.”

“And yet you’ve followed a rookie barely worth anything.”

“That tells you everything you need to know about that rookie, doesn’t it?” Drake retorted, refusing to let Lucci goad him by attacking his captain.

“I hope he’ll be a better challenge than you are.” Without warning, Lucci used a second Shigan, this one on Drake’s elbow. “This won’t be enough to keep you in check. But this…” quicker than lightning he slid one hand behind Drake’s head, grabbed a fist full of red hair and smashed his head into the floor hard enough to knock him out. “This will be.”

“He’ll no longer be a problem that way, even after he wakes up.” He explained, smirking as he held out Drake, still gripping him by his hair, toward Spandam.

He let him fall down on the ground when Spandam didn’t immediately take him, turning away and starting to walk away without waiting any longer, ignoring the way Robin’s eyes burned holes into his back.

~~One Piece~~

“I am supposed to drag him all the way by myself?” Whined Spandam once he got out of the shock of Lucci’s abandoning him, as he jerked Robin forward and grabbed Drake’s hair the same way the agent had done.

He barely walked for a few meters before he let out a frustrated scream, the zoan too heavy for him, especially once Robin started to drag her feet as well.

“Funkfreed!” He called out, letting Drake fall once again on the floor and grabbing his sword. The blade extended quickly, the two prongs on the side of the hilt changing into tusks as the blade first formed the trunk, and then the whole body of an elephant.

He tried to think of a way to drag Drake up its back, before growling in anger. “And aren’t those guys supposed to take care of the enemies? What good are they if I have to do everything by myself.” He patted his pockets, pulling out the first Denden Mushi he found. “CP9, report? What’s happening?” He barked. “CP9!” He insisted when he didn’t receive any answer, not even static.

“That’s…” Started to say Robin, staring wide-eyed at the snail.

“What? Oh, shit!” He shouted as he noticed that he wasn’t holding a normal Denden Mushi but instead the golden one used to trigger the buster call. “I wanted to use this one!” He protested, grabbing the baby Denden Mushi he used to talk with his team.

“You just… You triggered.” Muttered Robin, feeling faint. She hadn’t thought that the situation could get any worse, with Lucci going back into the building and becoming once again a risk to the crew, leaving Drake unconscious and unable to defend himself behind. And yet it had.

“Well, that’s not a problem. It’s just another way to take care of the Straw Hats. I’m just making things more efficient, I wouldn’t want them to possibly escape.”

“Do you even know what a Buster Call does?” She shouted desperately. “You need to call it off-”

“Do not presume to give me orders! I’m the chief of CP9, I’m the one in charge! I’m the one who gives the orders here, not you!”

“The Buster Call won’t just wipe out the pirates! It will wipe out every living thing on the island, and then destroy the island itself!”

“Well, I don’t care! If it takes the death of a few thousand soldiers for me to get my promotion, then I’m willing to do it. Their sacrifice won’t be in vain if it gets me the status I deserve! I’m a hero for taking out you lot.”

“You’re not-” She stopped as she noticed the baby Denden Mushi’s eyes, wide open and indicating that it was transmitting.

“Everyone, you need to leave the island!” She shouted getting closer to the snail. “Nothing will be left after the Buster Call, you won’t survive if you stay- ugh.” Spandam backhanded her, hard enough to make her fall to the ground.

“Don’t tell me this is… This is broadcasting to the whole island! I forgot to change the channel!”

~~One Piece~~

A couple of rooms away from that debacle, the two strongest fighters on the island stood face to face. They had reached the room at the same time, one of the storage rooms built in the middle of the underwater passage. One needed to pass through the room to reach the Bridge of Hesitation, and it was large enough for the two opponents to comfortably fight. Which was why they had gotten ready to clash before the broadcast had started and cut them short.

“At least Robin is still alright.” Commented Luffy as the transmission ended. It was good to hear the strength in her voice, even if it was desperate. He didn’t want her to give up once they were out of sight.

“She is.” Agreed Lucci with a smirk.

Luffy’s eyes darkened as he understood what Lucci had just implied.

“If you’ve hurt any of them…”

“I have.”

“I’ll make you pay for it.” He vowed. Without waiting any more he launched himself at Lucci, who had moved at the same time toward him.

‘If he’s the strongest, I’ll have to go all out.’ Haki coated his arm as the punch was blocked by Lucci’s raised leg, the strength behind the hit enough to make the agent’s eyes widen as he was pushed back.

“Gomu Gomu no Gatling!” Luffy shouted, arms blurring out of sight. Just as he had anticipated, Lucci disappeared and reappeared away from him and from his attack, leaving the path to the door behind which were Robin and Drake unguarded.

“Hop hop.” He grinned as he started to run toward the door.

“Not so fast” Grunted Lucci, shifting into his hybrid form even as he used Soru to land in front of Luffy, cutting him off. He squared his shoulders, making his already gigantic form seem even bigger. “You’re not getting past me that easily.”

~~One Piece~~

“What’s with their insane resilience?” Shouted Usopp as Kalifa brushed off his attack as if it had barely hurt, despite the burn marks covering her arms. “I’ll need something stronger to hurt her.” He muttered.

Thinking back on Franky’s battle against Fukurou, or at least the end of it that he had seen from high up from a window’s edge, he quickly dug through his bag, grabbing a small bottle of flammable oil.

“Usopp Oil Star.” Kalifa watched the small bottle fly toward her, before moving her leg and breaking it with a well-aimed Rankyaku.

Nami cried out in surprise from her position on the floor, trying and failing to get back up on her smoothed feet, when part of the bottle landed on her thigh.

“Usopp, be more… careful…” She trailed off as she focused on her thigh, the normal fingers on her right hand lightly poking at the revealed skin.

‘It removed her powers! That’s the weakness in her devil fruit! And with that, I only need to…’ Despite her slightly impaired hand, she didn’t have any problem swirling her clima-tact around and pointing the extremities up.

“Cloud tempo!”

“Nami?” Asked Usopp, watching warily the cloud get bigger above their head. He had gotten hit enough times by Nami’s creating thunder from those clouds while she trained that he was instantly wary.

“I know her weakness.” She answered back. “And now… Shower Tempo.” Rain instantly started to fall around the room, removing Kalifa’s soap. “Keep growing, my cloud!” She shouted as she took a battle stance, getting closer to Usopp so the cloud would cover the both of them.

“Her powers are weak against water.” Understood Usopp. “Just like Crocodile…” He tried to think back on what he knew about Luffy and Drake’s fight against the Shichibukai. Crocodile had been able to absorb water, but it had been something specific of his devil fruit and he doubted Kalifa’s power to create soap would allow her to do the same. So she truly was weakened.

“And I’m the perfect person to go against her.” Boasted Nami.

“You’re getting annoying.” Said Kalifa as she tilted her head back, pushed her chest forward and started to twirl a strand of hair against her finger. “I don’t like when men are paying attention to another woman. So die!”

Nami grabbed Usopp’s arm, barely dragging him out of the way of a wind blade in time.

“Be careful!” She warned, stopping her cloud tempo and creating two orbs of cold and heat, twisting them together to create her mirage. “Fata Morgana.”. Doubles of both herself and Usopp appeared around them, all looking slightly different. Some were far taller, some shorter or larger.

“Those fake doubles won’t distract me from my target.” Said Kalifa.

“Won’t they? What makes you think that we’re still the normal-looking ones?” Taunted Nami.

“Maybe I’m the real me.”
“Or me.”
“Or me!”
“Or me?”

Kalifa's eyes narrowed, taking in the wavy, unnatural image of them all.

“Then I’ll destroy them all.”

“Let’s first see how you react…” Lightning appeared at the end of each clima-tact, while each Usopp targeted Kalifa with a projectile. “When faced with that many attacks at once!”

Bolts of lightning shot from every direction at once, Kalifa speeding toward one of the illusions in the hope of taking out the real ones before she got overwhelmed.

“Missed.” Shouted Usopp as the illusion dissolved under the agent’s attack, leaving her open to be hit by his attack as well as Nami’s. She screamed in pain as the strongest lightning attack Nami could produce shot through her body, enhanced by the rain having fallen on her, and Ussop’s ammo exploded in her face.

“Is she down?” He asked as the smoke settled around them, revealing Kalifa’s unconscious body.

“Yes. I need to grab her key now… Look away.”

“Why- oh.” He turned away as Nami started to frisk her.

“Good, she really got a key… Number two.”

Chapter Text

‘I need to do something.’ Was Robin’s only thought as Spandam yanked her up the stairs. He had, after a long moment of struggle, managed to put Drake on his elephant’s back and now no longer had to drag him. ‘I can’t stay useless like this!’

Spandam refusing to call off the Buster Call had shaken her so much that she had fallen into a state of shock that had cost her precious time she could have used to escape. ‘I can’t afford to waste time, not when every second matters.’ She truly believed, now, that Luffy would come for her, and she was determined to do everything in her power not to see him fail.

They were however running out of time, and not only because she and Drake couldn’t be allowed to cross the Gates of justice; now that the Buster Call had been activated they not only needed to be rescued but also to escape before the warships reached Enies Lobby. Given how fast they could get there using the Tairai current, the task seemed impossible.

‘And I’m the only one able to do anything.’ She thought with a glance toward Drake’s unconscious form. He hadn’t woken up from Lucci’s earlier assault, which would have been worrying given his Zoan healing and constitution if it wasn’t for the sea-stone robbing him of his strength. She didn’t know how much time had passed while she had been trapped in her mind, but if they were already climbing up the stairs it meant they were getting close to the gate. From what she knew of the island, once they reached the surface they only had a bridge left to cross and then they’d reach the bottom of the Gates of Justice.

She jerked back, easily getting out of Spandam’s hold, staggering as she almost lost her footing on the steps.

“Where do you think you’re doing?” Shouted Spandam, starting to run after her. “Funkfreed!”

“No!” She shouted as the elephant almost stepped on her, trapping her between its tusk and the wall and preventing her from running any further. Drake, who hadn’t been secured on its back, slipped and fell to the ground, rolling down a few steps until the wall stopped his fall.

~~One Piece~~

“Chopper!”
“Nami! Usopp!”
“You guys!”

Usopp easily caught Chopper as he jumped in his arms, frowning as he felt wet patches on his fur. his fingers coming up red.

“Are you alright?” He asked worriedly.

“Yep! I defeated an enemy all on my own!” Chopper shouted, obviously very proud of himself.

Usopp let out a whistle as Nami started to congratulate Chopper for his achievement.

“You’re super strong bro.” Said Franky, impressed.

“You’ve really done a good job.” Said Usopp, cutting through Chopper’s embarrassed insults. “Neither of them managed to defeat their enemy alone, I had to help them.” He boasted, pointing his thumb at himself.

“Yes, yes, everyone here is the best.” Agreed Nami. “Did you get the keys? I have the second one.”

“Uhh… I have the third one.” Said Chopper.

“Number four for me.” Said Franky, ignoring Usopp and Chopper’s sparkling eyes as he casually opened his stomach to grab the key.

“That’s good, that’s three out of five. Given the way the building keeps shaking, I don’t doubt that Zoro and Sanji are currently fighting, we might have theirs soon.”

“Should we go help them?” Asked Franky.

“Ah, no, you don’t interrupt when these two fights. Something about a man’s pride.” Explained Nami, shivering as she imagined Zoro’s face if they tried to barge in his battle. “Though maybe Sanji would agree if I’m the one who comes to help…”

“He’ll never agree to put you in danger.” Countered Usopp. “No, we have to trust them to handle their opponent on their own.”

“I think Sanji used haki to find the strongest agents.” Told them Chopper. There had only been Zoro and Sanji left in the hall when he had left to explore the tower, and he had noticed that Sanji had had his eyes closed like he was meditating.

“I’m not really surprised. None of the people we fought would have been strong enough to defeat Drake if we have been able to beat them without too much trouble, so it makes sense that the remaining three should be stronger.” Murmured Nami.

“Should we wait for them to finish their fights then? We might not have the right keys.”

“I don’t think we can afford to wait any longer.” Said Usopp, who had walked away and toward the nearest window while they talked.

“What do you mean?”

“Unless I’m very much mistaken… The Gates of Justice are starting to open.”

“No!”
“Shit.”

“We don’t have time to waste!” Shouted Chopper, looking with wide eyes at the barely visible opening between the two doors.

“We need to go to them now.” Decided Nami. “Our keys might be useful, and even if they aren’t we’ll be able to escape faster if we take Robin and Drake back here and we don’t have to wait for Zoro and Sanji to reach them.”

“Are you sure? There’s still Lucci to fight against.” Protested Franky.

“Luffy will take care of him.” Nami and Usopp said at the same time, no doubt to be heard in their voices.

~~One Piece~~

‘This guy hits hard.’ Sanji thought as he dodged another attack from Jyabura. While his own natural speed, coupled with his Haki, allowed him to keep up without too much trouble, he hadn’t dodged every hit. The few times they had landed—generally when he was trying to set up his own attack or because he had been taken by surprise by Jyabura out-cunning him—they had left behind heavy bruises that still ached.

He put a hand on the ground, using his momentum to twirl and give more strength to his next kick. It landed against Jyabura’s stomach, sending him skidding on the floor where he barely managed to keep his balance. ‘And his defense is bothersome.’

The man had boasted about being the only member of CP9 that was able to move while using Tekkai, and thus the only one who could reinforce his attack with what was supposed to be a defensive power. It wasn’t the advantage he had thought it was, Sanji having gotten used to fighting against Drake and Zoro while they used Armament.

However, there was a difference between training with people you knew well and fighting against an unknown opponent. Drake was more unpredictable in his attacks than Zoro—the mosshead tended to go for a display of overwhelming strength and was powerful enough to win without having to use much strategy—and Sanji was a good enough fighter on his own that he wasn’t tripped by only having trained with the same couple of people, so the true difference between the two situations was that no matter how much they taunted each other, not even Zoro ever tried seriously to kill him.

Jyabura, on the other hand, aimed each and every attack toward Sanji’s vital points. While the other fighters of the crew, even bare-handed, could hit harder than him, they never tried to cause too much harm, and Sanji could feel the difference. He was used to getting a bruised leg or ribs while training and keep on fighting, but it was harder to do when his ribs weren’t merely bruised but broken by a well-aimed punch.

He needed to do more damage if he wanted to win this fight and keep on being able to move afterward. Tekkai was different from Haki, weaker, and even if his attacks had never been enough to hurt them when the others used Armament, he could feel that he was just beneath a threshold of power, and if he managed to break through it he would be able to damage the wolf Zoan.

“Giving up?” Taunted Jyabura when Sanji took a few steps back, his mind racing as he tried to think of how to get stronger, and fast. He had theories, of course, techniques he had thought of but never have been able to implement before, either because of lack of strength or because of a lack of knowledge on how to do them. A part of his mind was already busy thinking about how to use some of the powers his opponent had displayed.

“You wish.” His eyes flickered toward the man’s pocket, where Sanji knew he had stashed his key. He needed to get his hands on it, and before the Buster Call Robin had warned them about arrived.

‘Robin-chan…’ He could feel his anger rising just by thinking of what she was going through. ‘She sounded so scared. And those bastards were the ones to frighten her! That’s unforgivable.’ Something clicked in his mind as he thought of the tears running down her face, at the burden she had to carry all those years.

“I’ll end this now.” He growled, spinning on himself. Heat rose through his body just like anger, and when he stopped he raised his smoldering leg in front of him.

“Fire?” Asked Jyabura, incredulous.

“You may be evil bastards, but I’m ready to become the Devil himself if it means I can save them. Diable Jambe: Premier Hachis!” Jyabura had activated his Tekkai on instinct before Sanji had even finished his sentence, and it was the only reason why he had it up in time when Sanji suddenly appeared in front of him and kicked him multiple times in the stomach. His Tekkai no longer was enough to protect him, however, and he was sent flying back into a wall. “I may be able to prepare haute cuisine, but my place has always been in Hell’s kitchen.”

“What with those kicks? He suddenly became far stronger.” Grumbled Jyabura, holding his ribs. “Damn, he definitely broke a few bones.” He threw himself to the side, avoiding Sanji’s attack and rolling to his feet. “But I won’t let you defeat me!” He used Geppo to rise above Sanji’s head, staying high into the air while he took his breath back.

“That’s not enough to get you out of my range!” Shouted Sanji, reaching his height in only one jump.

“What?”

“Flambage Shot!” This time Jyabura neither had the time to dodge nor to activate Tekkai and Sanji’s heel landed right in the middle of his torso. The kick was strong enough that he not only broke clean through the floor they were fighting on but landed deep embedded into the ground floor.

Sanji landed next to him, readied his next attack before stopping when he noticed that his opponent wasn’t moving any longer.

‘Is he faking?’ He wondered as he approached the agent cautiously. There wasn’t any way to fake those glazed, unconscious eyes and he relaxed when he confirmed he had truly won his fight.

“Good, that’s good.” He let out a fight of relief as he let the heat on his legs disperse. He crouched next to Jyabura, searched through his pockets and quickly grabbed the key. “Number one, uh. Ah, damn, I wasn’t ready for that kind of attack.” He grabbed his leg with a grimace, halting his move to get back up when his muscles and bones violently protested. “Mosshead better not need my help.” He wasn’t sure he would be able to run for the next few minutes while the pain was so sharp, let alone fight.

~~One Piece~~

Robin panted in pain, her breath having been slammed out of her body when Funkfreed had trapped her against the wall.

‘I can’t do anything while I’m that weak.’ The sea-stone kept stealing her strength, and even the slightest struggle was extremely tiring.

“Seriously, do I have to drag you as well? And now I’ll have to put him back on Funkfreed, don’t you remember how much I struggled the first time?” Complained Spandam, hauling Drake a few steps above them. “Funkfreed, down.” He ordered. The elephant obeyed, and he used his position above it to throw Drake’s still unconscious body on top of it.

“Get up there.” He ordered Robin. “I’m not escorting you by myself if Funkfreed can do everything.”

“I won’t-”

“Listen.” He grabbed her harshly by the hair, bringing her down to his height. “You are not going to struggle, alright? We might need you alive, but we don’t need you unharmed. And I’m not afraid to take a page out of Lucci’s book and incapacitate you if that’s what it takes.” In an uncommon show of strength, he threw Robin above his shoulder and dropped her on Funkfreed’s back. “Stay here.” He ordered, keeping his grip on her hair as he started climbing up the stairs again, Funkfreed following him.

‘Wake up… Drake… I can’t get away on my own, but if you just wake up you—oh.’

Her eyes widened as she glanced up at the body at her side.

“No matter what it takes.” She murmured. She didn’t care how injured she got as long as in the end everyone left the island alive, and she had no doubt that Drake felt the same way. No matter what Spandam threw at them, they’d heal as long as they managed to get back to their crew. She might not be able to run away, but it didn’t mean that there weren't other ways to waste time.

“Sorry.” She whispered, catching one of Drake’s legs with her own, the heel of her shoes catching the chain that linked his feet together. Using her experience as an assassin and what she had learned fighting people bigger and stronger than her, she shifted her legs, moving Drake until he was barely hanging off Funkfreed’s back. With another move, gritting her teeth when Spandam noticed that she was doing something and tugged on her hair, she shoved hard, throwing his body off the elephant and down the stairs.

~~One Piece~~

“I hear noises.” Warned Chopper.

“Already? I didn’t think Luffy would have reached them that fast.”

“Those are definitely the sounds of a fight and the only opponent that way is Lucci, who is guarding Drake and Robin.”

“That’s good.” Huffed Usopp. “If Luffy’s distracting him we have a chance to get away.”

“DUCK!” Luffy’s shout echoed in the corridor, and they threw themselves on the ground without hesitating. The slight delay it had taken them to understand the order was almost too much, a wind blade piercing through the wall and slashing where Usopp and Nami’s heads had been just a second before.

After staring for a second, wide-eyed, at the traces of the near death they had just experienced, Usopp used his position low on the ground to glance inside the room where the attack had come from, seeing Lucci and Luffy face to face but no one else.

“Luffy! Where are the others?” He asked.

“They’re still moving,” Luffy answered, pointing at the door in front of him. “He let them go ahead to slow me down.”

Nami clicked her clima-tact in place, glancing inside the room from above Usopp’s head, and both Luffy and Lucci’s eyes snapped to the place behind the wall where the noise had come from.

“You can’t fight him.” The pirate captain warned. He wasn’t sure he would be able to protect them if they tried to join the battle, since Lucci was fast. Luffy could feel that the fight would last, and didn’t want to waste energy by using Gear Two too soon, which he would be forced to do if the others entered the room.

Nami nodded once before tugging Usopp back so they were once again all hiding behind the wall. “I’ll use my mirage tempo.” She whispered. “It’ll make us invisible and allow us to cross through the room.” She explained for Franky’s sake since he was the only one who didn’t know what she was capable of.

“He’s a Zoan.” Immediately countered Chopper, shaking his head. “His sense of smell and his hearing are too developed to be fooled by an illusion. Especially since he’s a predator, a leopard if I’m not mistaken.” The spots made it hard to mistake him for another animal.

“We’ll just have to impair those senses long enough to cross the room. It’d take what, twenty seconds? I think I still have fireworks around, will the sound and smell of gunpowder be enough?” Asked Usopp.

“I think so.” Nodded Chopper. He certainly was sensitive to Usopp’s attacks, often finding it hard to breathe when the sniper was creating his different types of ammunition.

“Wait, let me help.” Said Franky, crouching next to them. “I can propel us across the room.”

“Alright.” Usopp readied his weapon, aiming at the ceiling to make sure it wouldn’t hit Luffy, who had resumed fighting to keep Lucci busy.

“Everyone grab onto me.” Ordered Franky, easily catching Nami and Chopper in one arm and Usopp in the other.

“Special Attack: Sky Star!” Usopp shouted. The projectile exploded into a multitude of smaller ones, each making a high-pitched sound as they split again and entirely drowning any other sound in the room. The smell of gunpowder followed not far behind.

“Mirage Tempo!”
“Coup de Boo!”

Despite having most of his senses impaired, Lucci threw himself in front of the door, guessing what they were planning to do. He barely missed grabbing on Franky, his claws scratching at his skin but without taking hold.

~~One Piece~~

Kaku, in his rage at Jyabura’s taunt, had cut the tower in half with a wide-ranged attack, showing off the power of his Rankyaku. As the two swordsmen clashed against each other, Zoro blurring out of sight as he attacked Kaku, the higher half of the tower slid down a little further toward the abyss, destabilized by the aftershocks of their blades clashing against each other.

The two fighters hadn’t waited long to put their all in their attacks, both heavy hitters who weren’t afraid to attack each other from the front. Despite their inhuman strength, they had barely managed to wound each other, and the few cuts that landed weren’t deep. Kaku’s Tekkai was strong enough to lessen the worst of Zoro’s attacks, even if the pirate managed to partly cut through it, and Zoro’s armament prevented Kaku’s slashes from cutting him, only leaving behind—when he didn’t parry in time—dark bruises but the skin still whole.

Unfortunately for him, Zoro hadn’t yet managed to successfully imbue his swords with Armament, and with such an evenly matched fight where pure strength was concerned, he couldn’t afford the time to try pushing his armament onto his blades. It was the only reason Kaku was able to shield himself partially. However, the agent couldn’t move when he used Tekkai, and as such couldn’t spend the whole fight on his guard if he wanted a chance to attack Zoro and win.

It hadn’t taken long for Zoro to learn how to time his strongest attacks for when Kaku was trying to charge him, allowing him to slowly gain ground over his opponent. The biggest trouble he had while fighting the zoan however didn’t come from his swordsmanship, nor from his ability to use the Rokushiki.

While Kaku’s swordsmanship was better than average, it didn’t mean anything for Zoro who aimed to be the best. Even if his four-sword style had been unknown and slightly destabilizing at first, Zoro had had no trouble adjusting to it. He even understood how Mihawk had felt, coming probably for the first time in his life against an opponent with Zoro’s unusual style at the Baratie. It only served to highlight, in his mind, the distance that still separated the two of them, since Mihawk had adapted immediately to Zoro’s style while it had taken him a few minutes to get the hang of Kaku’s.

The agent’s ability to dodge or strengthen his body at will was nothing new, having faced Drake while he used the two kinds of Haki at once. The giraffe Zoan hadn’t tried to use the two powers that allowed him to move quickly or through the sky, his big size meaning that such strategies wouldn’t be effective as Zoro would be able to cut him while he moved. Even his Rankyaku was less bothersome than if he had a real sword since he was only able to create flying attacks with it.

No, the real trouble Zoro was facing came from Kaku’s gigantic half-human form, and more precisely his long neck. As long as he wasn’t using Tekkai, his neck was very flexible and the agent had quickly learned how to use it to give himself a bigger range. Combining it with the last power, Shigan, Kaku was able to use his nose as a cannonball, retracting his neck into his body before sending his head at a high speed toward Zoro, leaving square indents bigger than Zoro’s head behind each time the pirate dodged.

“You’re troublesome.” Zoro acknowledged, deflecting an air blade and bending his knees, blocking Kaku’s head with his two remaining swords. Even if he had seen the attack coming and had been ready to tank it, the impact was still strong enough to make him skid on the floor.

“I’m a delight.” Deadpanned Kaku, before he grinned. “You shouldn’t have mocked me.”

“I wasn’t mocking you, I was just-” Kaku used his new position to use his neck as a scythe, trying to hit Zoro from the side. The swordsman jumped to avoid it, before being forced to throw himself to the side as Kaku attacked him with his sword and he wasn’t positioned correctly to block. The slash barely avoided his neck, leaving a trail of blood on his collar bone that ended on his shoulder.

“Okay, maybe I was mocking you. But hey, is that really a reason to try to kill me?” Even as he talked, his mind analyzed the attack he had just dodged. The attack had been predictable, and there was no doubt that he would have been able to evade it. Kaku had to have expected him to dodge, and as such hadn’t been aiming for his neck but another part of his body.‘He’s aiming for my arms.’ Zoro understood as multiple attacks targeted his wrists, using haki to block the first ones while he changed his grip on his swords, deflecting the rest with his blades.

It would take only one cut to his pectorals for him to lose all mobility in one arm, and he needed all three swords to compete against Kaku. ‘He knows he won’t be able to win against me if he doesn’t incapacitate me quickly.’

Kaku was panting, eyes intent on Zoro. The agent seemed ready to use all he had if it meant winning the fight, and it made him far more dangerous than when they were only testing their swordsmanship against each other. ‘I need to end this before he does. He’s targeting my arms? I’ll give him more to target.’

He held his arms parallelly in front of him as Kaku readied another attack, swords crossing horizontally in front of his chest.

“Nine Sword Style.” His fighting spirit grew, too much for his body to contain, two sets of arms and two heads appearing on his torso, all holding swords. “Asura.” Kaku stumbled back, wide-eyed as Zoro moved his arms, all taking a different posture to hold the swords at different heights, crossing them in front of him.

Images of Robin crying as she found her will to live, of Lucci assaulting Drake while the pirate was unable to protect himself, flashed through his mind. He didn’t doubt that the other members of his crew had suffered as well during their fights, even if he didn’t yet know the details.

“Your suffering will pay for theirs.” He leaped toward Kaku who steeled his body.

Robin's desperate face on the train as she pleaded for their lives before she forced him to get away. Drake’s relief at seeing him here, even if had already known Zoro alone wouldn’t be enough to get them out.

“One Mist Silver.” The words were barely more than a whisper as he cut through Kaku’s defense as if it was paper, nine gashes opening on Kaku’s large body.

Chapter Text

“Good, you’re still here.”

Zoro looked up as Sanji entered the room, hair slightly disheveled but not looking badly hurt, his clothes hiding the worst of the bruises that littered his torso.

“I just got that.” Answered Zoro, holding out the key number five. Kaku was struggling to breathe at his feet, covered in his own blood. His arm fell limply to the ground, the last remnants of his strength leaving him now that he had given Zoro his key.

Lucci would have his head for surrendering it that easily, but he no longer was able to move. Despite all notion of honor having been beaten out of him, he could acknowledge that Zoro deserved his victory. He was far the superior swordsman.

“I have one as well. Have you seen what’s happening?” Sanji jerked his head to the side, toward the outside of the building. Zoro focused his attention on something other than Kaku for the first time since they started fighting one on one, and noticed that the Gates of Justice had started to open, the gap between the two doors large enough that there wasn’t mistaking what was happening.

“When did that happen?”

“It was already opening by the time I ended my own fight… You know what it means, right?”

“The Buster Call is coming.” Knowing that Enies Lobby was connected through the gates to the other Marine strongholds, it wasn’t hard to guess that the large-scale attack would come from there.

No matter how dire it made the situation, the Buster Call arriving still wasn’t the worst-case scenario. The only other reason for the doors to open would be to let Robin and Drake through them. That was something they couldn’t allow to happen.

“We need to get to them right now.”

“Do you know where the others are?”

“I don’t feel anyone else in the building. But that might not mean anything, my Haki is all shot up.”

“Let’s just assume they’re already gone then.” Zoro jumped above a part of the wall that had been cut in half and peered at the ground at the bottom of the tower. “Think we can just jump down to go faster?”

“Do you see any bridge? Dumbass. There must be a passage hidden somewhere.”

~~One Piece~~

‘Everything hurts.’

Drake opened his eyes, wincing and closing them instantly when the light made a bolt of pain shot through his head.

‘What happened?’ He could remember Lucci and Spandam dragging them in the underwater tunnel, hearing Luffy’s voice from far away. And then Lucci had attacked him, incapacitated his arm, officially because he wanted to prevent Drake from escaping but in truth because he was a bloodthirsty bastard who had no shame in kicking someone already down.

However, none of that explained the pain that radiated from his whole body nor the pressure in his head that could only come from a concussion. Or from Sengoku blasting Conqueror’s Haki at full strength in his presence, but he didn’t think he would have forgotten the Fleet Admiral suddenly arriving.

“You fucking bitch!” Someone shouted before there was a resounding sound of flesh hitting flesh. His head hurt too much to recognize who the owner of the—somewhat familiar—voice was.

“Funkfr- oomph” There were more sounds of fighting, until another voice cried out in pain.

“Stop it!” Robin shouted, and everything suddenly came back to Drake. Lucci had incapacitated him so he could go back and stop Luffy, letting Spandam in charge of dragging them both to the gates. He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, but if Robin was still fighting all wasn’t lost.

“I said—gah!—shut up bitch.” With a gasp of pain, Robin fell silent. Drake forced his eyes to open, recoiling at the light once again hurt him but not closing them back.

Through his double vision—‘yep, definitely a concussion’—he could see someone standing higher than him with one foot pressing on… He could barely keep his growl down as he recognized that the man—‘shit, who is that already? Focus Drake!’—was standing above Robin’s downed form, one foot on her clavicle to prevent her from moving.

“Funkfreed.” He ordered—‘ah, right, Spandam, I forgot’—and suddenly a big, gray mass that he had taken for a wall up until now started to move down the stairs.

“How drugged up I am?” Drake couldn’t help but to ask out loud as an elephant, of all things, appeared in front of him.

“Drake.” Wheezed Robin.

“Ah, you’re awake. Is even Lucci unable to knock someone out properly? Honestly, I have to do everything myself.”

“Run, Drake, r-”

“How many times must I tell you to keep quiet?” Spandam groused, putting more weight on his foot and earning a choked sound of pain from Robin.

Drake tried to focus on the situation even as he started to inch back from the animal approaching him. He twitched as his bound hands reached the end of a step and he understood the situation they were in.

“We’re already coming up.” He muttered. Suddenly, the various places on his body that hurt made sense, as there was no way that he could go down the stairs running bound as he was. “Well, it’s been a long time since I broke a bone.” With that he raised his shoulders, tucked his chin against his chest, and let his body fall back.

“After him!” Ordered Spandam.

It was surprisingly hard to fall down a flight of stairs, especially when you started without momentum and were already lying on the steps. Still, Drake managed to go down a few dozen steps, trying and failing to go to his feet once his fall had slowed down. He barely managed to avoid Funkfreed's charge, the tusks piercing the stones above his head.

“Hey, easy.” He called out, eyes boring into the elephant's. He had always been focused on reptiles and could barely remember what he had read about the other animals living alongside dinosaurs, but weren’t elephants basically the descendants of mammoths, and thus prey to them? Even with his powers suppressed, he was still a dinosaur, and the elephant in front of him should be able to feel it and know better than to attack Drake.

He cursed when it charged once again instead of backing up as he had expected, barely avoiding getting impaled and ending up trapped against the wall, the tusks bracketing him and preventing him from running away.

The trunk in front of his face suddenly morphed, a blade appearing on the underside.

‘Devil Fruit!’

The fact that his opponent had a Devil Fruit changed everything.

First of all, it explained why his attempt at stopping him hadn’t worked, especially if it was a Zoan-infused weapon like the Marines preferred to use ever since the process to create them had been discovered.

Secondly, it now had an obvious weakness. He only needed to touch it with some of the sea-stone that had been used to bind him, and it’d be rendered unable to move—at least for a short time, until it built up resistance as he and Robin had over the course of the day. Even if his arms were trapped behind his back with his wrists stuck together, he still had some freedom of movement in his legs thanks to the chain linking his two feet together being slack enough to allow him to walk. While it wasn’t enough to give him the opportunity to kick someone with any kind of momentum, he only needed a little luck and flexibility to touch the elephant with it.

He barely had the time to comprehend the thought that they still had some hope of stalling before an ominous crack echoed through the staircase, freezing him in place.

Slowly, he turned his head to the side, coming to the scene he had dreaded hearing that sound. Spandam had moved, one of his feet going up to a higher step, the other landing on Robin’s throat, where he was slowly putting on more weight.

Robin’s eyes were wide in fear and pain, equally frozen at the threat, Spandam only needing to apply a little more force to crush her throat and break her spine through it.

“I am TIRED of having to chase after you.” Said Spandam through gritted teeth. “Now, I’m going to do something easy. One of you starts anything, does anything that isn’t shutting up and walking to your death, and I’ll make the other pay. Don’t think I wouldn’t.” His eyes shone with madness, revealing that while he hadn’t deserved getting his position he had kept it because he was just as twisted as the agents under his command. “Even quadriplegics are able to talk, and as long as there’s enough life in your body to torture no one will care if I hand you over to Impel Down as little more than corpses.”

His foot twitched as if he was going to put more weight on Robin, silently daring Drake to try anything.

“Diez Drake. You’re going to get back on your feet, and you’re going to climb up those stairs, or Nico Robin will discover how skilled the World Government is when they’ll have her screaming out of her destroyed throat. And you.” His gaze snapped down to Robin, glaring murder at her. “You might not care if he gets a little hurt, but you attempt to pull off another escape attempt and he no longer will have to walk those stairs, because Funkfreed will carry him instead, impaled on the end of his tusks. Is that understood?”

“Understood.” Agreed Drake in a flat voice as soon as Spandam looked at him again. “None of us will try anything.” He wasn’t willing to risk him snapping any further and permanently injuring any of them.

~~One Piece~~

Lucci’s day had, up until now, shaped up to be a good day. He had finally left Water Seven behind, ending the longest mission of his career on a win—well, up until Franky burned up the blueprints at least. He had gotten the opportunity to execute his own brand of justice when they had captured Robin and Drake and doomed them to a fate worse than death. And now, he was in a prime position to put a stop to this rookie crew that had thought it wise to challenge one of the three bastions of the World Government.

He had gotten the opportunity to clash against the strongest opponent of said crew, and what a fight. The pirate captain was strong enough that Lucci felt he finally had an adversary worth fighting, finally someone that deserved him going all out. He hadn’t even had the opportunity to build up the fight, his opponent starting strong, matching Lucci in raw strength or at least close to it, and able to take his attacks like they barely hurt.

Despite him taking his time and enjoying the battle, he had expected his fellow agents to take care of the other Straw Hats quickly and without too much trouble.

They weren’t part of CP9 for nothing. They were the best at what they did, even the members with a lower Doriki. No matter what he personally felt about them, he knew how talented they were. Even Jyabura, thought you wouldn’t hear him say it out loud—the wolf was still as strong as Kaku.

This meant that when half of the Straw Hats suddenly appeared in the room, only Franky looking the slightest bit hurt, he was more than disappointed. He had trained some of the agents himself, so to know them defeated stung.

But he was ready to stop them himself; after all, it didn’t matter who did the job as long as it ended up done.

And then the pirates blasted past him and continued down the underwater tunnel, utterly humiliating him in the process when he didn’t manage to even slow them down.

“They’re going to suffer when I get my hands on them.” He snarled.

“You’ll have to get past me before.” Warned Luffy.

“I guess I do.” Lucci smiled threateningly. “If I win this fight, then you’ll lose your last chance of saving your crewmates, and I’ll personally slaughter the rest of your crew. If you win, you might have a chance to get them back… If they haven’t already crossed the Gates of Justice by then, and after that you’ll still have to escape a Buster Call.”

“I’ll defeat you before they’re gone, and I’ll bring everyone back to safety,” vowed Luffy. “I won’t hold back against you.” With that he crouched, pumping the blood in his legs. Now that he wasn’t using this technique for the first time and distracted by the novelty of it, he was much more aware of the effect it had on his body. He could hear his heart beating in his ears as it struggled to keep up with his blood flow, could feel his lungs screaming for air as if every breath didn’t bring enough oxygen. The technique was too straining on his body to keep it up for long, but it wasn’t like he had any choice if he wanted to do more than match Lucci but defeat him instead.

He jumped toward the Zoan, fist cocked back. Lucci didn’t have the time to activate his Tekkai before he was sent flying into a wall, leaving a large indent behind.

“You’ve gotten quicker.” He commented as he pushed back from the wall, using Soru to reposition himself. He crossed his arms in front of him in anticipation of the upcoming attack, digging his feet into the floor as he was almost knocked back once again.

His instincts warned him and he crouched to duck a punch, only for it to hit the side of his head, unbalancing him. The only reason he didn’t fall down was thanks to his hybrid form’s tail helping his equilibrium.

Just like Blueno, the Zoan wasn’t fast enough to keep up with Luffy’s new speed, even though his animal instincts meant that he wasn’t entirely outmatched. Once it became clear that his hulking hybrid form was more of a hindrance than a help, he quickly reacted. Using a gap between Luffy’s attacks, he took a breath and called out “Life return”.

His form blurred out of sight as his shoulder shrank down, his torso narrowing until it lost half its width. His new shape, while still as tall as his normal hybrid form, was much slimmer.

This allowed him to enhance his speed, which he immediately used to dodge Luffy’s next punch.

He jumped toward Luffy to counterattack, a taunt about having lost his advantage on the tip of his tongue, but the pirate reacted before his attack could land, a fist smashing him in the middle of the torso.

While his new form boasted of being far faster, it still had the huge disadvantage of being far less resistant than the previous one. This meant that, when hit by a full-strength punch from Luffy, he couldn’t just take it while barely moving. This time he was sent flying back, crashing through a wall and out of the room. He managed to land on his feet, eyes taking in the new location. He was now near the stairs that led up to the Bridge of Hesitation, and for a moment he wondered if he should climb them up before Luffy reached him. He had four enemies who had managed to ignore him up there, after all.

It didn’t take him long to decide that he would rather keep on fighting Luffy. The fight was interesting, the best he ever had since he joined the government, and as long as the pirate provided him with a worthy challenge he wouldn’t try to get to his crew. Still, his pride still smarted at having let opponents outsmart him, and as Luffy reappeared in front of him, ready to continue the fight, he decided on one last test to decide if he really was worth his time.

“Shigan.” Luffy predictably dodged the attack, landing behind his back and closer to the stairs. Lucci whirled around, his punch getting blocked by Luffy’s open palm, the captain immediately retaliating and using his other arm to hit him from the side and pushing him into one of the tunnel’s solid walls. The debris and dust from the impact hid Lucci from view, just long enough for him to set up his next attack.

Luffy’s eyes widened as Lucci appeared in front of him, his two arms held straight in front of him and hands, closed into fists, landing flush against his torso. Lucci called forward most of his energy, focusing it all into his hands.

“ROKUOGAN!!”

Luffy didn’t have any chance to dodge from so close, the energy being released all at once into his body as a shockwave. He coughed up blood, his internal organs getting crushed under the pressure, body spasming as waves upon waves of energy hit him.

The assault hadn’t lasted more than two seconds, but it ended with Luffy’s body embedded deep into the wall behind the stairs and revealing a hidden space larger than the corridor they were standing in, twitching in pain as he spat blood to the side; and Lucci panting, vision blackening as the side effects of using such a powerful attack hit him.

When Luffy managed to get back to his feet and took a, if slightly vacillating, fighting stance, Lucci couldn’t help the satisfied smile that showed up on his face. Sacrificing almost half of his reserve into one attack had been worth it if only to get a measure of how resilient Luffy truly was.

~~One Piece~~

“How—huff—long—huff—must this staircase be?” Complained Nami.

“As long as the one we took to get down the passage.” Answered Usopp.

“At least your legs are made to walk up stairs! I can’t use my Walk Point here.” Said Chopper, the broad shoulders of his Heavy Point brushing against one of the walls. The stairs were large, spacious enough that an entire regiment of Marines could ascend them at the same time, but with Franky running next to him the space didn’t seem as large. Furthermore, the staircase was slightly curved, and it was easy to graze a wall when not paying attention.

“We’re going to reach the top soon.” Said Franky, cutting them off.

“How’d you know?” Asked Nami.

“The wall.” Explained Franky. “When we were still underwater, the stones used to make the outside wall were larger. Bigger blocks mean that they’re able to withstand more pressure, which is necessary because of the large body of water outside. Now that we’re above sea level, the stones used are smaller. It’s cheaper that way, but more fragile. The adhesive used in stone buildings is weak to water, and the smaller the stone the more adhesive you need.”

“Which means that we’re close to the surface.” Understood Nami. “Wow, you certainly know a lot about construction! I’m sorry, we didn’t really have the time to talk with everything going on, but are you an architect?”

“Ah, I’m a…” Franky hesitated for a moment, eyeing the pirates surrounding him warily. “I’m a ship dismantler.”

Usopp stumbled at that and would have fallen down the stairs if Chopper hadn’t caught him at the last moment.

“It’s all I’ve done over the last decade, but before that I was a shipwright.” He added.

“That’s… nice.” Answered Nami, forcing her voice to stay normal. To be honest, she hadn’t thought about Merry since they had reached Enies Lobby, and she could guess that nobody in the crew had. Being suddenly reminded that she was no longer fit to sail, that other people would consider her only good to be dismantled, was jarring.

“I can smell fresh air!” Shouted Chopper, cutting through the awkwardness, and they put on a burst of speed until they reached the top of the stairs, and with it the Bridge Of Hesitation.

Nami looked around, taking in the situation. The Gates Of Justice still loomed in the distance, their presence oppressing now that they were close enough to truly understand how tall they were. They had continued to open while they were trying to reach the bridge, and while the gap looked small, compared to the gigantic size of the doors, it would soon become large enough to let a warship through.

“Metallic Star.”

“Usopp?” Questioned Nami, turning around to see him aiming somewhere further down the bridge.

“They’re here! In the middle of the bridge, Drake and Robin are still here!”

“Oh, thanks the seas. Chopper!” Nami didn’t need to say more, the reindeer immediately shifted into his Walk Point, leaving her just enough time to climb on his back before he started to run at full speed. “I’ll need to immobilize the Marines guarding them long enough to try on the keys.” She muttered, snapping her clima-tact in two parts and charging a thunder ball at each end.

The fog created by the opening of the gates cleared up enough that she was soon able to see her two teammates… And only one other figure on the ground. Spandam—she could see her purple hair from here—tried to go back to his feet, only to be hit by another projectile courtesy of Usopp, making him drop down once again.

Just as Nami and Chopper had reached them, another figure appeared out of nowhere.

“Leave him to me.” Said Chopper, transforming into his Heavy Point once again and blocking Funkfreed’s attack with a fist, forgetting about Nami being on his back and dropping her unceremoniously on the ground.

“Oi!” She protested as she got back up.

“Nami!” Robin gasping her name was enough to distract her from the incoming tirade.

“Robin.” She greeted back, smiling at her friend. “Drake.” She couldn’t help but frown at the numerous wounds covering them both. “I have some of the keys with me, I hope one of them will work.” She grabbed Drake’s arms, tilting the cuffs so the lock was easily accessible. “Number two, number three, number four… Ah shit.” She quickly tried the three keys but none of them matched.

“I have restraints on my feet as well.” Reminded her Drake.

“Yeah, it was unlikely the three keys we got would fit your three locks.” She grimaced as she crouched down next to him. “Number two.” The lock clicked open, to her relief. “Ah, that’s good. Sorry about your arms, we’ll have to wait for Zoro and Sanji to reach us. Now, let’s try it with Robin.”

Sadly, none of the keys matched Robin’s cuffs either.

“I guess we shouldn’t have rushed here without all the keys.” Said Usopp.

“No, no, it’s a good thing you unlocked my legs.” Answered Drake, walking toward Spandam. Franky and Chopper had quickly taken care of Funkfreed together, the elephant covering in front of them, and Spandam was clutching an egg-sized lump on his head. “It allows me to do that.” Without any restraints he kicked Spandam in the ribs, sending him crashing into the stone railing surrounding the bridge.

He followed the CP9 director and continued kicking him, putting all the strength he could into the kicks—which was, despite the sea-stone weakening him considerably, more than enough to break bones. The crunching sound that followed each attack was proof enough.

“Hey, I… I think he’s unconscious.” Stammered Usopp after a moment.

“I don’t care.” Drake grunted back. “It makes me feel better.”

“You’re going to kill him.” Protested Chopper.

“I. Don’t. Ca-umph” Chopper dragged him away, unknowingly grabbing his injured shoulder to do so and cutting him off mid-word.

“I know all about wanting to kill someone that hurt you, but it isn’t something we do. We’re better than that.” Said Nami in a soft tone.

Drake had a few choice words to say to that, his muscles tightening in anticipation as he got ready to fight past the people trying to stop him from taking his well-deserved revenge, until he noticed that the other Straw Hats truly were ready to stop him.

Nami met his gaze unflinchingly, not looking away from his ice-cold eyes that did little to hide the rage he was feeling, and Usopp was watching him warily, his fingers closed on his upgraded slingshot and no doubt ready to use one of his clever projectiles to prevent Drake from attacking. No matter what he said, they weren’t going to let him do what he wanted.

“Chopper.” The reindeer at his back flinched slightly at his flat tone but tightened his grip, unwilling to release him. “I have five holes through the shoulder you’re holding thanks to Lucci. Could you please let me go?”

“Waah! Sorry.” He immediately unclasped his hand. “Should I take a look?”

“I’ll get better once I have the sea-stone off me,” Drake answered, forcing a smile as he looked away, turning his back to Spandam. He didn’t miss the way Nami and Usopp relaxed, or how Robin still eyed him as if expecting him to whirl around and start kicking at any time. Franky as well seemed aware that he wasn’t as calm as he portrayed himself.

But if there was one thing Drake was good at, and proud of it, it was having control over his emotions. Tempers were high right now, but they wouldn’t let him attack cold-bloodedly Spandam when he wasn’t even defending himself. He wouldn’t jeopardize the way his crew viewed him just because he couldn’t let go of the rage coursing through him.

Luckily, most of them had no clue that he just filled the rage away, buried it inside of him, in a part that he only accessed while in full animal form.

“You’ve taken a few hits… And a nasty one at the back of your head.” Muttered Chopper.

“Ah, that one is my fault.” Said Robin, managing to look sheepish despite the tension running through her body. She wouldn’t be able to relax until everyone had left this cursed place behind. “I was desperate to slow Spandam down.”

“That’s why I was alone down the stairs.” Understood Drake, not needing her to spell out that she had pushed him. “Don’t worry about it. You’ve managed to stall enough that we’re in the best possible place to be right now.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Franky.

“The bridge we’re on doesn’t reach the Gates Of Justice. It can’t, really, since the gates need space to open. There’s a warship at the end of it, with a crew of Marines to man it and escort us to Impel Down. I don’t know how long it’ll take them to notice there’s something wrong with Spandam not reaching them, but for now we don’t have to fight them off.”

“So the fighting still isn’t over, uh.” Muttered Nami, her gaze going back to the Gates warily. “And that’s not accounting for the Buster Call that might reach us before the others finish their fight. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji… Please, hurry!”

Chapter Text

Sanji hated this situation.

He and Zoro were both running through the underwater tunnel they had found, trying to pass through it and reach the other side as quickly as possible. Despite them both being fast runners—Zoro slightly slower than Sanji, but he wasn’t complaining at being forced into a full sprint—it was taking them far too long for his liking to get to the other end. The Gates of Justice had already started to open by the time they had left the tower, and who knew what was happening over them while they were trapped underwater.

“You think the Buster Call has reached them?” He asked, worry clear in his voice.

“We would have felt it,” Zoro answered. “It’s supposed to be a raid powerful enough to destroy whole islands. The tremors would have reached us even underwater.”

“Still, it’s taking us too long—ah, finally.” Sanji let out a breath of relief when stairs became visible in the distance. Despite them being alone in the tunnel there were clear signs of a fight having occurred there before, and he worried for more than Robin and Drake.

“Wait.” Ordered Zoro, slowing down to a jog.

“What is it?” He asked, knowing that Zoro wouldn’t have slowed them down if it wasn’t important but still anxious to reach the others.

“If those stairs are as long as the ones we had to take to get down there, we’re only going to waste time trying to climb them up normally.”

“It’s not like we have any other choice.” He countered, coming to a stop as they reached the first steps, or what remained of them. The rest of the staircase looked intact, but of the bottom steps only rubble remained, the stone clearly having broken under an impact. He hoped it only meant Luffy had been fighting there before, and that Nami and the others had passed through without trouble.

“Yes, we have.” Zoro put Wado’s hilt between his teeth, grabbing Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu in his hands and taking a familiar posture. “Stay close.” He ordered.

“Not too close.” Muttered Sanji, even as he took a step closer to stand just outside of Zoro’s range.

“Three Sword Style: Dragon Twister.”

Strong winds immediately surrounded them, piercing through the multiple layers of stairs above their head and straight to the sky, before the airflow grabbed them both and carried them up.

Less than a second after they left, Luffy crashed through the remnants of the stairs and landed where they had stood.

“Uh?” He barely had the time to make a questioning sound at the visible sky above his head before Lucci was upon him, forcing him to dodge.

~~One Piece~~

She had been expecting it for the last few minutes, but the first cannonball hitting the water next to them still made Nami flinch. “The Buster Call is here.” She said, barely more than a whisper. She had known it was a possibility the longer they waited for Sanji and Zoro to arrive without any sign of them getting there, but she had hoped they would reach them in time. “We were too late.”

“Damn…” Cursed Franky, eyes scanning the fog as the vague shape of ten Marine warships appeared on the horizon.

“And I have even more bad news.” Said Usopp, the only one not looking at the approaching army. “The escort to Impel Down must have noticed that there was something wrong because they’re rushing here.”

“Right. The Buster Call will avoid hitting us directly because they want Robin and I alive more than they want the rest of the crew dead, but they’ll still send a couple of warships our way so the Marines aboard can arrest us.” Said Drake, fists clenching behind his back. “The four of you won’t be enough to protect us, especially since Robin and I are dead weight right now.”

He had gone on enough ‘protect the civilians’ mission to know that trying to fight while protecting someone who couldn’t defend themself was far harder than just fighting without worrying for other people. Being in the civilian role was new for him, but he knew how strong his crew was and how strong Marines trained at the headquarters were, and they had no chance of winning on their own against so many opponents.

Unless Zoro and Sanji reached them right now, they would be overwhelmed in only a few minutes-

“Robin-chwaaan!” The first pillar supporting the bridge exploded from the inside, two figures soaring out of it and into the sky and landing on the bridge.

“Zoro, Sanji!” Shouted Nami, Usopp and Chopper at the same time, the trio sagging against each other in relief.

“Nami-san, are you alright?” Sanji had somehow crossed half of the bridge in only a few seconds, landing on one knee in front of Nami. He whirled around as soon as he noticed she seemed alright, turning toward Robin. “Oh, Robin-chwan, how I longed to see-”

“Less talking, more freeing.” Nami cut him off before he could launch into a tirade, walking toward Robin with two keys in hand.

“Oi.” Protested Zoro, patting the inside of his shirt where the key had been hidden and finding it empty. He had just arrived next to them and Nami hadn’t even come close to him, but it definitely was his key in her hand.

“And that’s… Key number five!” She let out a cry of joy as the cuffs around Robin’s wrists clicked open. “I was so afraid that none of the keys would work, I’m so relieved.” She admitted as Robin bought her hands in front of her, staring at the bare but bruised skin in awe.

“Can you unlock mine before being relieved?”

“Don’t complain.” Nami shot back playfully as she walked behind him and unlocked his cuffs with the last key. “What would you have done without us, uh?”

She noticed just as the sentence passed her lips that it might have been too insensitive, given the circumstance, but before she could apologize Drake whirled around and trapped her in a hug.

“I’m so glad you came for us.” He admitted, and Nami couldn’t help but blush at the naked emotions in his voice.

“Drake…” She grabbed the back of his vest and returned the hug wholeheartedly.

Before it could last for too long—Sanji was starting to get twitchy—another cannonball hit the water, reminding them of their surroundings.

“There are still hundreds of Marines coming here!” Shouted Usopp.

“Try thousands.” Answered Drake. “There are only a couple hundred Marines on the escort ship, but once those warships reach us… There are a thousand soldiers per warship, and a huge chunk of that are officers.”

“How can we escape from that?” Asked Chopper.

“There’s no use trying.” Answered Robin. Her shivers had worsened as the warships sailed closer, and she couldn’t help but flinch as each cannonball struck the island. “It’s too late. We can’t escape now.” She slid to the ground as her knees gave out, curling on herself.

“Robin.” Franky crouched next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. He could feel the gaze of the crew resting on his back, but he didn’t let it deter him. “You need to trust us, to trust them just a little while longer, alright? It might be scary now, but your crew will find a way to get you out of here.”

~~One Piece~~

Luffy wheezed as he tried to breathe. He felt like he was choking, like he couldn’t get enough air no matter how hard he tried. He could barely hear anything over the beating of his heart and had missed Lucci’s approach multiple times because of it. He almost fell to the ground as he took a step back, his legs momentarily unable to hold his weight.

“I can’t… I can’t keep fighting like this.” He panted as he allowed his blood flow to slow down. He didn’t know how long he had kept his Gear Second up, but he had reached his limit. And he still hadn’t defeated Lucci. Without it, he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the Zoan’s speed and iron-hard defense.

“Already over?” Asked Lucci, calmly walking toward him, his own chest heaving as he breathed and revealing that he hadn’t been unaffected by the harrowing fight. He glanced up at the visible sky above his head. “Well, the other Straw Hats went past me and have to have reached Spandam by now. You lasted long enough in the fight to accomplish your first objective, even if it won’t be enough to stop me from killing everyone.”

Luffy went to answer when the building suddenly shook around them, some of the debris from the destroyed stairs falling down.

“What’s happening?” He asked.

“You’re only noticing now? That's the Buster Call. In no time at all this island will be reduced to ashes, with us on it.” Lucci didn’t look fazed at all at what he presented as his certain death.

“Not… If I defeat you… And escape.” Luffy panted, face determined.

“How do you think you’ll defeat me? That technique you were using was obviously too much for your body, and you’re barely able to stand right now. Keeping my current form barely takes any energy, and even if you got a few good hits they won’t be enough to stop me. I’ll admit that you were a worthy opponent, but you’re too tired now to be a threat.”

“It doesn’t matter how tired I am,” Luffy countered, “as long as I keep standing, keep opposing you.”

“You’re… Refreshingly naive.” Lucci admitted. “Right now I could end you with only one attack.”

To prove his point he moved right into Luffy’s space before the pirate could react, towering over him. Luffy couldn’t escape the Shigan from that close, and the finger pierced through his torso, missing every vital organ. Lucci’s objective hadn’t been to kill him but to prove how outmatched Luffy now was.

“But I have better targets in mind.” He removed his hand, flicking the blood off. “If they were strong enough to win against my team, then it means they might still be able to put up a decent fight right now, unlike you. If I have to go down with this island, I’d rather it be after killing every member of your crew.”

“Don’t!”

“Then stop me.” Taunted Lucci, jumping high and using Geppo to hover over his head. “If you’re capable of it.” He raised his head to look at the sky and started ascending, easily bypassing the destruction of the stairs thanks to his powers.

“Don’t!” Protested Luffy, watching wide-eyed as his opponent went further and further away from him and closer to the rest of his crew.

“LUCCI!”

~~One Piece~~

“Here they are.” Muttered Usopp as the Marines who had been standing at the edge of the Bridge of Hesitation reached them. The warships had started to spread out, losing their cohesion as most of the vessels started to circle the waterfall ring, two staying near the bridge. The fact that those two weren’t shooting while the others were raining hellfire on the island was only a temporary relief.

It was as Drake had said. They wanted him and Robin alive too much to shoot near them, but they had no such reluctance when it came to attacking them on foot. Given how the two warships were maneuvering, they planned on sending part of their soldiers down the bridge and capture everyone.

“Good.” Growled Drake, voice deepening as he shifted into his hybrid form. “I have some frustration to get rid of.”

Without hesitation, he threw himself at the first Marine who reached them, the poor man crumbling under his punch. “And that’s now mine.” He grabbed his opponent’s sword, using it to cut through the incoming Marines.

“Sorry, we didn’t think to grab your weapons.” Apologized Zoro as he joined him in the battle.

“It’s no problem.” Answered Drake. “I wouldn’t be able to use my axe anyway.” He had tucked his left arm against his torso so it didn’t bother him during the fight, and he would be able to move it slightly if needed, but Lucci knew that he had pretty much incapacitated it when he had targeted his shoulder and elbow. His axe was heavy, too heavy for him to use right now. “And any sword do against these guys.” The Marines they were currently fighting were heavily outmatched, but it wouldn’t last for long. They didn’t have much time before the ones that came with the Buster Call were upon them.

“DUCK!” Usopp's terrified scream was clearly heard over the battle, and none of the Straw Hats hesitated before throwing themselves to the floor. It was a good thing that they hadn’t, because Lucci’s claws barely missed Zoro’s head, cutting off a few strands of short green hair.

Zoro brought his swords in front of him, blocking Lucci's next attack before the agent switched targets, jumping toward the weaker members of the crew. He was stopped by Sanji, who put himself in his path and caught the hit with his leg, wincing as his bones, weakened by his use of Diable Jambe, fractured under the impact.

“Sanji!” Gasped Nami, catching the blonde as he fell down.

“Dos Fleur” Called Robin, two arms appearing on Lucci’s neck to put him in a chokehold. Lucci reacted before she could finish her attack, grabbing one of the newly bloomed limbs and forcing her to dismiss her arms to prevent them from getting broken.

Drake took a step toward the agent to try and stop him, but the Marines at his back had gotten over their shock at the sudden appearance and had started to attack again, forcing him on the defensive. Zoro cursed next to him as he too was prevented from leaving unless he wanted the Marines to overwhelm the rest of the crew.

Usopp and Chopper stepped next to Nami, forming a protective barrier around Robin even if the agent didn’t seem to be targeting her. Franky stepped between them and Lucci, fist cocked back and ready to strike, and Sanji joined his side, wincing each time he put weight on his leg.

Before the situation could explode into a battle, a loud cry of “LUCCI!” grabbed their attention.

“So he can still move.” Lucci smirked as Luffy appeared on the bridge, steam coming off of his body. He was next to them in an instant, ramming his fist into the agent’s body and punching him off the bridge and into the nearest warship.

“Luffy!” The crew shouted as one, relief in their tone. The relief was soon to turn into worry as Luffy’s skin turned from bright red to its normal color and he stumbled.

“You’re hurt.” Noticed Chopper.

“You’re exhausted.” Said Zoro at the same time, Luffy's arrival having once again shocked the Marines enough to give them a few seconds of respite.

“I can still do it. I can still defeat him.” Luffy said, eyes locking on every member of the crew for a short second each, ending on Robin. “Robin. Drake.” He turned his head to look at the redhead. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

Drake smiled at him fondly, the sentiment mirrored on Robin’s face.

“Go win your fight, captain.” She said, not even attempting to mask the relief she was feeling at seeing him alive.

He nodded determinedly. There was no chance he was losing, not when he could see that everyone on his crew believed in him, counted on him.

“Wait for me.” He ordered, arms stretching to grab the edge of the hole Lucci’s body had created by crashing into the hull of the ship and letting his body get dragged toward there.

“You heard the captain.” Zoro said, bloodthirsty grin firmly in place. “Let’s defend this place until he comes back.”

“Yeah!” The shout was loud, their energy back now that they could see the end of this ordeal getting near.

“Straw Hats pirates.” A voice called out from the second warship, the one Luffy wasn’t on.

Drake whirled around, recognizing the voice. The man who had talked walked closer to the edge of the warship so they could all see him. He was towering over every Marine that surrounded him on the deck, cutting an impressive figure in his dark suit, the coat of Justice floating over his back. One of his hands was on the hilt of his sword, not in the right position to draw but it was enough for the threat to come through.

“You know him?” Asked Zoro, noticing Drake’s narrowed eyes as he stared at the man.

“That’s Vice Admiral Momonga.” Drake answered.

“Surrender now, and your lives will be spared.” Momonga announced, voice carrying even if he wasn’t shouting, not even having to force for the commanding tone to be heard clearly.

“A swordsman.” Zoro commented.

“Most Vice Admirals are.” Drake admitted. “His sword is one of the fifty skillful grade swords, like Yubashiri. Its name is Kigiku.”

“Long live the emperor.” Murmured Zoro reflexively, well used to parsing through swords’ names to see their hidden meaning, before he turned his head sharply to look at Drake. Even if he used a sword, Drake wasn’t a swordsman, not like Zoro was, and had never cared much for the names of the weapons. His own sword was a grade sword he didn’t know the name of.

“I trained under him for almost a year.” Drake explained with a bittersweet smile. “He’s a good Marine.”

Drake had liked Momonga, had respected him as a superior. The Vice Admiral had always been serious about his work, even when anyone else would have felt it beneath them and botched the assignment. He never complained, always did the mission to the best of his abilities. Drake had never really understood what his stance on justice was, but Momonga cared too much about his subordinates to be an ardent follower of Absolute Justice. He had learned much when he had been transferred to the G1 base, and most of that had been thanks to him.

“He’s strong.” Guessed Zoro as the other Straw Hats shouted out their refusal of Momonga’s offer, telling him that they didn’t believe him and would never give in anyway.

“Stronger than me,” Drake answered. “He’s a good strategist and has more raw strength than I despite not having a Devil Fruit. But I’d say you’re the better swordsman.” No matter how much he might have trained in his youth, being a Vice Admiral had left him with little time to better his abilities. He was still accomplished, but he had long since lost the encompassing dedication that moved Zoro.

“He doesn’t look interested in coming down, and I have better things to do than chase him up on his ship to fight him.” Zoro sighed, disappointed in the lost opportunity as Marines jumped off the warship and onto the bridge, ready to use force after their refusal to surrender, Momonga not among them.

“You know, he would have really kept us alive if we had surrendered.” Said Drake, switching his sword to his useless arm for a moment and grabbing a rifle from one of the downed bodies on the floor to shoot at the incoming Marines. “We would have all ended up in Impel Down, sure, but he wouldn’t have killed us. He’s a man of his word like that.”

“How about we end neither dead nor in Impel Down.” Suggested Sanji.

“That sound like a better plan.” Drake easily agreed. He glanced down at Sanji’s legs, wary to see the cook still standing and using them to fight.

“It’ll take more than that to prevent me from kicking.” Said Sanji, seeing where he was looking. “I don’t have any problem defeating anyone that tries to get in my way.” With that, he raised his leg high enough to kick a Marine in the head.

Instead of being sent flying, the man’s head separated from the rest of his body. Sanji’s eyes widened in horror as he thought for a moment that he had just decapitated someone, before the rest of the Marine’s body broke down, forming balls that hovered around the fighters.

“Captain Very Good. He ate the Beri-Beri Fruit, which makes him immune to blunt force.” Said Drake, recognizing Sanji’s opponent quickly.

“Unless you know Armament Haki.” Sanji sighed as Drake easily grabbed the Captain's head and smashed it into the ground, injuring him. “Damn, I really picked the wrong type to learn.”

“Don’t complain, you can dodge. Look at Zoro’s, he’s obliged to block every-” Drake grabbed Zoro’s shirt and jerked him back, away from the Marine that had tried to attack him. “That’s Captain Shu, he ate the Rust-Rust Fruit. Don’t let him near your swords.”

“The bastard would have…”

“No doubt about it, he doesn’t care about the weapons his Devil Fruit destroys. We need to stay focused.” Drake glanced back at the weaker members of the crew, who had backed away from the front line and were happy to use their weapons to do damage from their position, Chopper taking care of every Marine who got close enough to be a threat. “These are Marine Captains we’re fighting. They might be weaker than us individually, but there are many more of them than us, and they’re good enough to be able to take advantage of any weakness.”

Chapter Text

Lucci wiped the blood from his face, wincing as he put pressure on his cheekbone which had definitely broken when he had impacted face first into the warship. While he had been lucky not to have hit the part of the hull that was covered in sea-stone, the reduced defense of his slender hybrid form had still been overwhelmed.

“So he’s still able to move… That was a good punch.”

He shifted back into his human form, his expression tightening in pain as his bones relocated. Without the thin layer of fur to cover his skin, the marks of his battle against Luffy showed clearly on his skin, purple bruises blossoming all over his torso. His suit was in tatters, and he removed the last remnants of his jacket that still clung to his body.

He closed his eyes for a moment, mentally dulling out the pain to a manageable level. Adrenaline was the only reason he was still fighting, his muscles quivering under the strain of keeping his body whole when it wanted to fall into pieces. But he wouldn’t stop until either he or his opponent was dead.

Not when he finally had found a man that could rival his strength.

“I have no doubt that he’ll follow me here.” He mused out loud, leaving the room he had crashed in. “But the inside of a ship isn’t really a place to fight.” Too many walls, too little open space, and they were both too destructive to battle efficiently in that space. “I’ll have to get on the deck before he gets here.” With that he started to walk without hesitation, easily finding his way through what many Marines would have described as a maze. He had often hitched rides on Marine ships to accomplish his missions, sometimes with permission but more often without, and as such could maneuver through them without trouble.

Someone must have noticed his presence—or, more likely, noticed that Luffy had sent him flying into their ship—because as he reached the deck, he was faced with a battalion of Marines.

He continued to walk forward, uncaring of the weapons pointed at him, until he was entirely surrounded. And then the whispers started.

“Is that…”
“Those marks…”
“Could he be?”

Lucci smirked as the realization hit the marines surrounding him.

“This is the Massacre Weapon of the government!” Someone whisper-shouted behind his back. “The legendary agent! They said he branded the scars on his back himself to prove his affiliation to the World Government!”

“No way! I heard he was born with the marks, and that’s why he was recruited by Cipher Pol.”

“Nu-uh. He got them when he faced the legendary army of the Densetsu no Guntai kingdom alone and defeated them one-handed. One lone survivor, who had hidden to escape the slaughter, unleashed the whole force of the kingdom’s cannons on his back, and that’s the only injury he ever received in his life.”

Lucci couldn’t stop the aggravation from showing on his face, one eye ticking as the tales became more and more outlandish. Sure, he loved his reputation, especially the terror that usually accompanied it, and he knew that there were a lot of rumors flying concerning him and to a lesser extent the other agents of CP9. But no one, not even Fukurou who couldn’t keep quiet if the mission depended on it, ever had the guts to spread them where he could hear.

Before he could retaliate, and by that he meant kill everyone onboard, the deck cracked in front of him, a rubbery fist breaking through it and taking out a few Marines at the same time. The rest of the body followed suit, Luffy landing in a crouch before him.

“There you are.” The pirate gasped.

“I’m impressed at your resilience,” Lucci admitted. He had only used his ultimate technique once, but even that had taken a toll on his body. He wasn’t exhausted, not like Luffy was, but the earlier fight had still tired him far more than anything else had in his life.

He could admit to himself that he had been losing that fight, and had Luffy not run out of energy when he had, he might have been defeated entirely. But Luffy had, and here he was, still standing.

“But you won’t be able to use that technique again.” He analyzed. He was amazed that the pirate had been able to use it for the few seconds it had taken to send him away from his crew, but it had no doubt exhausted the few resources he had left.

“No.” Admitted Luffy. “But I don’t need to.”

“Don’t insult me.” Growled Lucci, ignoring the hesitating Marines around them who didn't dare get in between the two fighters. “Without it, you’re not strong enough nor fast enough to have any chance of injuring me.”

“I know I’m not. I know that if I give you the opportunity to land even one hit, then I might not get up again. I know that if I try to attack normally, then you’ll be able to dodge. That’s why…” Luffy brought a hand to his mouth, moving his feet to gain more stability. “This will be my last attack.”

With that he clenched his mouth shut, biting through the skin of his thumb. With a deep breath, he pushed all the air from his lungs into his bones, his arm inflating.

“Gear Third.”

Every Marine that had been standing behind him was pushed off the ship as his arm grew large enough to exceed the length of the deck.

“Gomu Gomu no…”

Luffy jumped high above the deck, his arm bathing the entire warship in shadows as he sent it behind his body.

‘Tekkai won’t be enough.’ Lucci understood immediately as the colossal limb hid the sky from view. He had no chance of dodging the attack, not even Soru would get him out of range.

He held his arms in front of him, hands closed into fists, palms facing each other. He focused every last bit of his physical strength into the attack, knowing that his enemy had done the same.

“Gigant Pistol!” Just as the fist got close enough to Lucci for him to unleash the counterattack, Luffy’s fingers suddenly gleamed back. It was only for a moment, barely a second as he put the last of his will into his Armament Haki, but it was enough.

“Rokuogan.” Shouted Lucci, waves of energy leaving his hands and impacting Luffy’s fist. The world seemed to freeze, concentric circles forming across Luffy’s blackened skin and spreading across his arm, the power from Lucci’s attack enough to stop Luffy’s arm.

And then time restarted, and the warship broke in two under Luffy’s punch.

~~One Piece~~

“Did you know he could do that?”

“No. But I don’t know why we’re even surprised by what Luffy’s capable of.” Answered Nami, watching as their captain brought down a fist as large as the warship he had been previously standing on on said warship.

“I really hope Lucci has been taken down by that attack.”

“Yeah, if it wasn’t enough to defeat him then I don’t know what can be.” Usopp blinked as Luffy suddenly started to shrink, the air coming out of his body propulsing him through the sky. “Ah, he’s not slowing down!” Without thinking he ran toward the edge of the bridge, dodging sword strikes as he left the safe place Chopper and Franky had created around them, almost jumping off the bridge as he grabbed Luffy by the back of his shirt before he could get too far away and fall into the water.

He shrieked in fear as the grip he had on the stone slipped and he almost fell off, only for Franky to grab him and draw him back next to him.

“I got you bro.”

“Thanks! Hum, Luffy… What happened to you?!” He asked, suddenly noticing that his captain was far too light and small.

“Side effects… of Gear Third. It’ll go away.” Answered Luffy, high-pitched voice coming out in gasps.

“Yeah, you’ll tell me more about it later.” Decided Usopp, remembering that now definitely wasn’t the time to talk. “Did you win?”

“Sure did, shishishi.”

“Yosh!”

“But I’m… I don’t think I can move right now.” Added Luffy.

“Don’t worry about it, captain.” Said Zoro. “You protected us all, now it’s our time to protect you.”

“Shishishi.” Luffy beamed at them.

“But we still need to escape.” Said Nami, watching the never-ending sea of Marines around them. “And we can’t go back the way we came.”

“Especially with how the Marines have been Buster Calling the island the whole time.” Added Sanji, throwing a worried glance at the moving warships they could see in the distance. The thunderous sounds of the attack could be heard even over the noise of their battle, and while he hadn’t paid much attention to it until now, the slight respite he had taken from fighting to check on Luffy allowed him to notice that the assault had slowed down.

“Why would they do that?” Asked Chopper. “There were only Marines left there.”

“No there wasn’t.” Answered Usopp, grimacing as he turned to face the destroyed buildings behind them. He hadn’t thought of it before, too caught up in the rapidly progressing events, but… “The giants were still back there. And Paulie and the other shipwrights from the Galley-La. And…” With a glance toward Franky, he added in a quieter voice. “And part of the Franky Family.”

With that Franky’s face lost all its color. “What?”

As if the Marines had been listening to their conversation, the Denden Mushi on the remaining warship crackled to life.

“This is warship number six. We’ve finished circling Enies Lobby.” A Marine reported, his voice coming loud and clear despite the ongoing fights. “The Marines and Cipher Pol still standing on Enies Lobby are being evacuated at the main gate on warship four. There are no other living beings on the island.”

Nami gasped, hand rising to her face in shock. Franky was standing frozen, face turned toward the ruined island.

“The Puffing Tom has disappeared from the train station at the entrance of the island. Agents have reported that the pirates have been seen boarding it. They are suspected of having made their escape before the Buster Call could reach that part of the island.”

“I never doubted them!” Shouted Franky, posing in the middle of the bridge.

“Then why are you crying?” Deadpanned Nami, even if she couldn’t hide the relieved expression on her face.

“The only pirates left are the ones on the Bridge of Hesitation.” Finished the Marine.

“And that’s bad for us.” Said Drake as he punched the light out of the nearest soldier. “We have minutes at best before the remaining warships surround us, and we won’t be able to get away from them all.”

There were ten warships involved in a Buster Call. Even if one was busy evacuating the island and Luffy had destroyed another, it still left eight of them. Eight thousand Marines that would in a matter of minutes surround them. Sure, they had been holding out admirably, but Momonga still hadn’t gotten involved and the crew was tiring out while the amount of Marines they had to face was seemingly endless.

“Can we try to take over one of the ships?” Asked Usopp.

“Half of them have a Vice Admiral on board, and none of us have any chance of winning against them right now.” Not when Luffy was down for the count, Drake and Sanji injured and Zoro tired from his earlier fight. “Even if, and that’s a big if, we managed to take control of one of the ships they wouldn’t hesitate to damage it to prevent us from sailing away.”

“The escort ship is docked at the end of the bridge, right?” Asked Nami.

“Yes. But we would have the same problem trying to escape using it.” Answered Sanji.

“Yes, but unlike the warships it’s tied to something.” She looked at the ocean around them, frowning as the idea took shape in her mind. “Do you know where the controls for the Gates of Justice are? There has to be a control panel somewhere on this side of the Gates, since you and Robin were supposed to leave from here.”

“There was one inside the Tower of Justice.” Answered Drake, thinking.

“But we can’t reach it from here.” They were effectively stranded on the Bridge of Justice. Even if they hadn’t been, the Tower had been all but destroyed.

“Marineford can remotely control all of the gates. They’re programmed to detect when a warship gets close enough, and if it uses the correct code then they open.” Added Drake, knowing that it wasn’t what Nami was looking for but reciting everything he knew might give one of them an idea. He suddenly remembered something important. “Spandam was going with us to the escort ship.”

Nami didn’t seem to understand, but Robin had been close enough to hear and knew where Drake was going.

“Spandam is a narcissist. He wouldn’t want to give the honor of ordering the gates open to anyone else.”

“Meaning that there is a control panel near the escort ship.” Nami gasped as she understood.

“Most likely inside the third pillar. There has to be a control room there.”

“I’m going to order the doors closed.” Said Nami in a low voice. “It will create massive whirlpools around the waterfall, and we can use the chaos to steal the escort ship and get out of here.”

“Will you be able to get there?” Drake asked, looking at the sea of Marines standing between her and her objective.

“I can go undetected,” Nami answered, twirling her clima-tact.

“Be careful.” Said Robin, earning a smile from the navigator for her concern. “We’ll start fighting our way toward the end of the bridge.” They had been staying mostly immobile up until now, unable to go anywhere while they waited for Luffy to arrive.

~~One Piece~~

Now that the crew had a real plan of escape, they had started to fight with renewed purpose. They had been making progress getting closer to the end of the bridge, and no doubt Momonga was suspicious to see them suddenly start fighting with a destination in mind while they hadn’t been before, but there was little they could do about it.

“The other warships are here!” Shouted Usopp, warning them of the incoming enemies seconds before the first cannonballs fired at them.

“Are they aiming for us?” Asked Sanji.

“They can’t be, Robin is still here.” Shot back Franky.

Despite his reassurance there soon was no doubt left that the warships were aiming for the bridge they were standing on.

“They plan to cut away at our footing little by little.” Said Robin, eyes closed as she listened and looked through the various ears and eyes she had created. “They want to trap us until we have no space left to fight, and then send their strongest fighters to arrest us.”

“Can we afford to wait for Nami?” Asked Usopp.

“We have no other choice. They’ve destroyed the first pillar, we have no chance of going back to the main island.” Stated Drake.

“We just have to keep holding on.” Said Franky, his face grim. He had been careful not to use Cola, but should the other warships reach them he would have no choice but to use his wider attacks to take out as many Marines as possible at once, and he’d soon end out of fuel.

“I can… I can still fight.” Said Luffy from his position on Usopp’s back.

“Luffy, you can barely hang on to me on your own.” Answered Usopp. He had to cancel shots multiple times because he had felt Luffy start to slip from his back, and he would be too vulnerable on his own if left on the ground. No matter how well they were holding out, he wouldn’t risk it.

“You’ve already pushed your body to the maximum.” Added Chopper. “You risk permanent damage if you ask any more of it so soon.”

“I won’t stand back while you’re all fighting.”

“Captain. Trust Nami to close the gates, and trust us to hold on until then.” Said Zoro, determination visible on his face as he stared Luffy in the eyes.

Silence fell around them, the Marines kept outside of their bubble by Robin using her powers to hold them back. None of them had ever tried to stop Luffy when he was determined to do something. Sure, they protested and tried to dissuade him, but it was clear from Zoro’s stance that he wouldn’t move on that.

If there was one person that might be able to out-stubborn Luffy, it was him.

More than that, the two of them shared a special bond, created by those first few days where they had been the only ones in the crew, and while it had never been officially acknowledged, they all knew that if Luffy wasn’t there they would turn to Zoro to get their orders.

“Of course I trust you.” Stated Luffy, a slight nod acknowledging that he wouldn’t try to fight Zoro on this, and would stay out of the fight.

For now.

~~One Piece~~

The next few minutes were tense, and the sudden cries of confusion coming from the warships were a relief, as were the cannonballs going wild and hitting the water instead of continuing to destroy the bridge.

“She did it.” Sanji sighed in relief. He had been so worried at the idea of her going alone, but he knew she was the best suited for this task. With a Vice Admiral watching their movement carefully without joining the fight, they wouldn’t have been able to hide the disappearance of one of their front-line fighters. Given how talented Nami was at sneaking around coupled with her illusions he had believed that she could do it. Still, it would only take one unlucky second—a cannonball landing too close, an enemy moving his sword carelessly, a bullet aiming for one of them and hitting her instead—and she could have ended up injured, or worse. It was a relief to know that she was now in the control room in the third pillar, away from the fight and thus safer.

The warships started to move, slowly at first but quickly gaining speed as the gates closed further, creating small currents that transformed into whirlpools big enough to drag even the heavy vessels.

Sanji would give it to them, the Marines knew how to coordinate quickly and they tried their best to correct their course, but they sadly didn’t have someone as talented as Nami on board that could have put that coordination to good use and gotten them out of the whirlpools.

It was sometimes frightening, to think of what the World Government would be able to do if they had gotten their hands on some of the talented people that roamed the sea as pirates. If they had only acted instead of turning a blind eye to Arlong’s doing, Nami would have no doubt offered them their loyalty, and the world would be in a far sadder place for it.

A ripple passed through their opponents still on the bridge as they understood what was happening. If the crew had any doubts that the people they were fighting were officers from Marine HQ, and as such smart, it would have been dispelled when almost at once the Marine force split up, the officers the further back turning around to rush toward the third pillar while the rest of troops reinforced their formation in a concerted effort to slow down the Straw Hats.

“We need to get there before they have a chance to open the doors ag-” The end of his sentence was cut off as two of the warships, despite their best efforts to correct their course, crashed into each other, stocks of gunpowder exploding on impact and removing any chance anyone on board had of getting out of there alive.

The certain death of two thousand Marines was enough to motivate the ones still alive, and they attacked with a fervor that managed to push the Straw Hats back for a moment before they too renewed their efforts. Escape was almost in their hands, and as the sound of lightning joined the cacophony indicating Nami’s continued well-being, they felt hope that they would get out of there.

“Everyone aim for the escort ship!” The roar shook the battlefield, Momonga’s voice loud enough to be heard by all even without the aid of a Denden Mushi. “They’re planning to commandeer it and use it to escape!”

Chapter Text

“Everyone aim for the escort ship!” The roar shook the battlefield, Momonga’s voice loud enough to be heard by all even without the aid of a Den Den Mushi. “They’re planning to commandeer it and use it to escape!”

“Motherfucker.” Drake’s exclamation was heartfelt as various Marines on all warships ran back to the cannons they had abandoned in an attempt not to repeat the previous crash.

“We need to get there right now!” Shouted Franky as he disregarded his previous attempts at preserving Cola. They needed to reach the warship and protect it before the Marines could destroy it, or they would be doomed anyway. It was no longer the time to preserve energy, they needed to strike hard and fast before the opportunity was taken away.

He hadn’t needed to say it, everyone had understood what they needed to do. Zoro crossed his swords in front of him, his knee buckling under the strain as he used Ashura a second time, and started to tear a path through the enemies who were no longer able to even slow him down. Sanji was barely half a step behind, taking care of the Marines who had escaped Zoro’s swords and were either trying to attack him from behind or to reach the other Straw Hats. He couldn’t use his Diable Jambe, not with the injuries on his legs that would have a lesser man bedridden and unable to walk for weeks, but his kicks were more devastating than ever, aiming for the Marine’s weak points without a care for the damage he left behind.

The crew rushed into the breach without needing to consult each other, Robin tugging Marines out of the way and off the bridge, eyes half-lidded in concentration. Usopp was at her side, his eyes not straying from their goal as he protected her and aided in their advance, trusting Luffy to guard their back. The young captain had tied one of his arms into a knot to keep him on Usopp’s back and used his second arm and the small regain in energy he had gotten to either punch the rare Marines who managed to get close, or to use his body as a shield against bullets.

The cannon fire, which had stopped when the Marines had to use all hands on deck to try not to crash into each other’s vessel, quickly picked up again. The cannonballs were still hitting the sea instead of the bridge or the escort ship, but with each second they were getting closer and closer to their target.

Their luck had run out, it seemed, and finally one of the Marines managed to hit where they had been aiming. One cannonball would normally not have been enough to sink a ship, especially not a Marine vessel, but it created a weakness in the hull, and barely moments later a second cannonball hit the same place, breaking through the hull and right into the room behind.

The explosion that ensured when the stock of gunpowder went up in flame was far smaller than the one they had witnessed just minutes before when two of the ships had crashed against each other, for the amount of gunpowder stocked in the escort ship was far smaller than it had been on the warships used in the Buster Call, but it was enough to burn the pirates’ hope to ashes.

There was no one to celebrate the Marine’s victory. The few soldiers that were still awake on the bridge were either barely hanging onto consciousness, or getting their asses pummeled by the Straw Hats, and those on the warships far too occupied to do more than feel satisfaction

“I was so sure it would work.” Murmured Nami, clima-tact smashing against the back of a Commander’s head and creating a little bubble of silence on the bridge, where they remained the only peoples in any state to fight. Her eyes burned with despair, the flaming warship tinting its surroundings in shades of red and orange and adding to the shadow that crossed her face.

“It was a good plan.” Said Sanji, but his jaw was clenched in stress and despair, and there wasn’t much behind his attempt at comfort.

“I should have guessed Momonga would have seen through our plans.” Said Drake, tone apologetic.

“They could still hit us here.” Said Usopp, eyes scanning over the sea. He could have sworn he had heard something, just at the range of his hearing, but he couldn’t see anything. Then his eyes landed on one of the warships that was still caught in the vortex. This one had been lucky, the whirlpools sending them away from the other vessels, and the officer in charge hadn’t waited to use the opportunity. Only a few of the men aboard were trying to control the vessel’s direction, most of them running around the deck moving cannons and pointing them in their direction.

“Oh no you’re not.” He muttered under his breath, bringing the rubber band next to his cheek. With how erratically the ship was moving under the current’s hold, he couldn’t risk using one of his newer, more powerful ammo that sacrificed precision for strength. While he could usually compensate, he needed to hit his goal, not rely on the destructive power of his improved ammunition.

In a heartbeat he released the small, lead-filled ball and watched it soar toward its target. The ship continued to move, dragged by the various whirlpools, moving unknowingly to its occupants right into the path of Usopp’s attack. Without any fanfare, it struck right where Usopp had wanted it to. One of the small metal pieces linking the biggest sail to its mast snapped in two under the impact, and the sail folded in half under the airflow. Without the wind pressure to counter the currents, the ship suddenly picked up speed and whirled away from the bridge before the Marines had the opportunity to start their attack.

With one goggle in place, Usopp could clearly see how the Vice Admiral in charge grabbed a spyglass, and how the expression on his heavily scarred face changed the moment he understood what had just happened.

Usopp jerked his head away, his breathing picking up at the rage he could almost physically feel directed at him. The sounds of the battlefield, which had faded away for the short moment it had taken him to stop the Marine’s attempt at shooting them, rushed back to him. He ignored Zoro’s impressed raised eyebrow, the swordsman having seen the action, as he noticed once again the sound he had heard earlier. It was somewhat clearer and he could almost distinguish words in it. The voice seemed familiar as well, even if he couldn’t hear it distinctly enough to remember where he had heard it before.

“What do we do now?” Asked Chopper, his worried eyes jumping to everyone’s face, trying and failing to see confidence in them.

“I don’t know what else we can try.” Said Sanji. From the grim faces he could see, none of them had any idea left.

“I could… Send everyone back toward the island?” Offered Luffy, but even he was unconvinced. He was wracking his brain to find a solution, but he could think of nothing.

“There’s a way.” Said Usopp, the quiet certainty in his voice getting their attention.

“What do you mean?” Asked Franky, turning to look at him. Usopp’s eyes were closed, his face turned toward the sea and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“Can’t you hear it? We have a way of getting out of here.”

“Hear what?”

Drake gasped as a feeling suddenly filled his chest, and he took a few steps toward the edge of the bridge. “She’s here.” He whispered, eyes closing as he focused his Haki on the new presence.

“Who?” Shouted Chopper.

“Our last crewmate!” Answered Usopp, a relieved laugh escaping him. “She came for us!”

“Don’t tell me…” Said Nami, eyes wide.

“So that’s what she feels like.” Murmured Sanji, eyes closed as well as he started to walk toward the destroyed end of the bridge.

“We can get out of here!” Shouted Usopp. “Just jump into the sea!”

“Into the sea.” Repeated Sanji with a fond smile as he took the last step forward.

“Into the sea!” Shouted Luffy, none of his exhaustion showing on his face as he tightened his hold on Usopp’s shoulder and pointed toward the ocean, the sniper not hesitating for even a second as he started to run forward.

“Into the sea!” Repeated Chopper, barely a step behind Nami as she jumped off the bridge.

Robin grabbed a still confused Franky’s hand and walked a few steps backward over the edge until he could see what everyone else had known was there. Without needing to look back, Robin let her body fall back, Franky grabbing her hand as well and not resisting when she dragged him down.

Zoro turned to face Drake, a smirk on his face as they dived off the bridge together.

“MERRY!!!” The shout was pulled from every member of the crew as they landed on the deck of their last crewmate.

«Let’s leave together!»

~~One Piece~~

If anyone had any doubts about Klabautermann existing, they would have been dispelled by seeing the Going Merry sailing through the whirlpools, her sails snapping in place as soon as Nami gave the order and before anyone else could even try to move them, the rudder moving on its own under Usopp loose grip, keeping her on the edge of each whirlpool to gain a speed boost without getting sucked into them.

Usopp was crying as he felt her coming alive under his hands, Chopper and Luffy were crying as they clung to Robin and Drake respectively, babbling about how relieved they were, Sanji was crying from being reunited with both Nami-san and Robin-chwan (and from pain where Luffy had kicked him in the shin trying to get to Drake), and Drake and Robin were both misty-eyed as they hugged back their clinging crewmates. Franky was crying at how beautiful their reuniting was, and had she not been so focused on getting them away from Enies Lobby without any help from her crewmates, Nami would have been crying and clinging to Robin as well, having already gotten a hug from Drake.

Zoro was staring at them all with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes dry, but even people who didn’t know him wouldn’t have mistaken the happy expression on his face, for once sporting a smile and not a smirk.

It took them no time at all for them to get away and soon Enies Lobby was just a vague shape on the horizon, no longer the impenetrable fortress it had been rumored to be but only smoldering remains of an island that had been razed to the ground.

With their course set for Water Seven, and no hint that the Marines were even attempting to follow them, they were in high spirits and it seemed like nothing could get their mood down. With Sanji having somehow found the time to cook a quick, filling meal, Luffy had regained enough energy to show signs of his usual enthusiasm, even if the more observant crew members could see the moments where his expression tightened in pain as he moved too much. Chopper had given him a primary examination, enough to determine that he wasn’t in risk of dying despite how far he had pushed his body. Since he would be able to give them far better care once they reached Water Seven, he was willing to wait to take care of his charges. Most of their injuries required them to rest and not move around to heal, and he wouldn’t be able to force them to stay idle until they reached land.

“Straw Hat!”
“Big Bro Franky!”

The shouts mixed together at what had first only been a dot on the water quickly turned into multiple vessels. The Puffing Tom was there, stopped in the middle of the tracks and with various Galley-La workers hanging out of the windows, or in Paulie’s case standing on the roof and waving at them. The Franky Family were standing on Gomorrah’s back. They all looked worse for wear, but everyone on the crew was relieved to see that no one seemed deeply injured. Hurt, sure, and the amount of bandage covering most of them had easily doubled from after CP9’s initial attack, but nothing they wouldn’t recover for.

Franky started crying, one big arm covering his face as he bawled in relief, earning a judgmental look followed by a sigh from Nami, who was already getting used to his antics.

“Still as emotional as ever, Franky.” Sighed a new voice. Half hidden behind the Puffing Tom floated another ship, this one boasting the name of the Galley-La on its sails.

“What are you doing here, Ice-for-brains?” Shot back Franky, glaring at the mayor.

“I thought I might be needed here.” Answered Iceburg without raising to the taunt, his gaze landing on Merry with a worrier crease in his brows.

“And it’s a good thing he did! Nagagaga.”

“Wh- Granny Kokoro?” Asked Franky incredulously. “What are you doing here?”

“Didn’t she follow us into Enies Lobby?” Muttered Nami.

“Yes, she did.” Realized Usopp, before raising a hand to the back of his head. “To be honest, I kind of forgot she was there.”

“Hmm hmm, I didn’t think to question how the Rocket Man crashed into the main building.” Added Nami.

“Iceburg offered me a lift once we crossed paths.” Explained Kokoro.

“That doesn’t explain anything!” Shouted Franky. “How did you even get here in the first place?”

“I swam.”

They blinked at her deadpan answer, but since she had started to laugh again and lifted a bottle of what had to be alcohol to her lips, everyone present decided not to question what was happening.

“I’m glad you managed to get away. When we saw the gates start to open, we weren’t sure you would make it.” Said Paulie.

“Yeah, speaking of that…” Trailed off Franky, eyes darting around the ship as if looking for something. “How did the ship get there? You said that there was another member of your crew left, but I don’t see anyone new.”

“How could you miss her?” Nami asked with a smile, indicating with her hands her surroundings. “She’s one of our oldest crew members.”

“You don’t mean…”

“The most courageous-” Nami’s words cut off when the deck shifted under her feet, and she stumbled back as she tried to recover her equilibrium.

Crrrk

“Step back!” Shouted Franky, just at the same time as Sanji ordered sharply “Grab onto her!”

Luffy instantly followed Sanji’s command and threw one arm forward, encircling Merry’s figurehead with it while the other grabbed onto the main mast.

Crrrr—rrrk

Zoro and Sanji jumped on either side of the deck, grabbing onto the railing where it had suddenly snapped in half, their muscles tensing when they felt the high pressure coursing through the wood.

CRACK!

Drake stabbed his right claws into the deck’s wood on one side of the fracture that had suddenly appeared, coursing through her length, grimacing as the sudden weight menaced to dislocate his arm. Nami grabbed onto his shirt and dug her heels, adding her non-negligible strength to his effort. A row of arms appeared on each side of the crack and grabbed onto each other.

A low-pitched, grinding sound made everyone shiver as they kept struggling to hold Merry in one piece, until two metal pieces hooked onto her hull; Iceburg’s ship was fully equipped to safely drag even the most destroyed of ships back to Water 7, and easily took over their efforts to keep the two parts of Merry together.

The happiness they had felt at their successful escape vanished when it dawned on them what had just happened.

“No, no, no, Merry…” Usopp’s tone was agonized as he fell to his knees, fingers brushing against her deck.

“She was on her last breath.” Said Iceburg solemnly. “It’s a miracle she even managed to go that far, leaving in the middle of the Aqua Laguna like she did.”

“How did that happen?” Asked Sanji, voice tight. “She was supposed to be safe.”

“We saw her on one of the canals.” Explained one of the shipwrights. “The boss said…”

“I heard her.” Said Iceburg. “She talked to me.” His mouth twisted in a sad smile. “She said that she only had one wish, and it was to see you all safe one last time. I couldn’t do anything but try to fix her as much as we could. I’m sorry it wasn’t enough.” The Galley-La had done everything they could, using their not inconsiderable skills to allow her to sail one last time, but everyone had known after seeing the damage that there would be no saving her.

“Merry…” Whispered Luffy, blinking against the tears. “No, no, you did good.” He continued, tone reassuring, and it took a second for the bystanders to understand that he wasn’t talking to Iceburg. A hush fell over the ships despite most of them being unable to hear anything of what was happening.

«I… I wanted…» The voice was small and filled with pain, barely audible to the Straw Hats over the sound of the waves. «Just… One last time… One last adventure…»

“You already carried us so far, Merry, you can be proud of yourself.” Said Nami, choking on the words as her hand lightly stroked the nearest wall.

Something flickered on the deck and a small figure appeared, huddled against the mast.

“Merry.” Breathed Sanji, awed.

«I was so happy… I wanted to be happy just a little while longer…» Despite the raincoat hiding her eyes and her smile, the Straw Hats all knew that she was crying.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t take care of you enough, and that I was careless, and that I hurt you… I damaged you so many times, Merry, I’m so sorry…” Luffy stumbled over the words, tears and snot running down his face. “We weren’t, we weren’t good enough, and Usopp was a lousy shipwright, and none of us helped, and Zoro and Sanji and Drake and I kept breaking stuff without wanting to, and-”

«You took good care of me.» She cut him off. «You were the best crew, I couldn’t have asked for more. I’m- I’m…» Her voice broke down, but she kept on talking. Even her smile was becoming strained. «I’m sure you’ll sail far. Even if… I couldn’t be the one… To help you fulfill your dreams…»

“Merry-” Luffy took a step forward as she flickered once more, her form almost translucent.

“You helped us so much, Merry.” Whispered Chopper, tears clinging to his fur.

“You were very brave.” Added Zoro, crouching so he could get closer to her height, not even attempting to hide the sadness he was feeling.

«I don’t want to be alone…» The whisper was filled with too many emotions to parse through, but her fear was clearly heard by all.

“We won’t let you sink.” Promised Drake. He turned to look at Luffy, searching for reassurance.

“We’ll give you a pirate funeral.” Promised Luffy, swallowing heavily as the words struggled to leave his throat. “As a member of our crew.”

Merry’s Klabautermann flickered one last time before it disappeared, tearing a sob out of Usopp’s throat.

«Thank you… Thank you…» Her voice had gotten slightly louder now that she wasn’t manifesting her full form, but the last of her strength faded with her last words.

They stayed silent for a moment, head bowed, before Luffy took a shaky breath and looked toward Iceburg. The shipwrights were standing solemnly, most of them misty-eyed despite only seeing half of the conversation. They, more than most people, knew how rare and how precious it was to see such a bond between a crew and its ship.

“I need- for the fire.”

Iceburg nodded, before turning his head and muttering something. The shipwrights next to him started to leave the deck, taking their neighbors with them until the ship was seemingly empty, giving them an illusion of privacy to grieve for their friend.

Chapter Text

The waterfall was as imposing as ever, its size awe-inspiring. From his position on the roof of the Tower of Justice, Drake could only feel small as he watched the water rush into the depths of the void.

He looked over his shoulder. He didn’t know what he was expecting to see, but he didn’t relax even when his eyes only met an empty roof. He didn’t know what, but there was something threatening behind him that he needed to escape from, and being unable to see it only worsened his uneasiness.

He looked down again, moving his feet a little more over the edge. It would only take a small push to make him lose his footing and fall down into the never-ending void, but there was nothing here to give him that push. Still, he still knew he needed to escape, and there was only one way of getting off the roof.

The oppressive feeling only grew the longer he hesitated to jump, until it suddenly disappeared.

Drake’s head jerked up, some instincts telling him to look forward. He wasn’t sure what he was seeing at first, until his blurry vision focused, revealing a figure standing far away from him, on the other side of the waterfall. They were too far to see who it was, and the more Drake tried to focus on them the more his eyes seemed to glide away.

It didn’t matter. He would have recognized that hat anywhere.

“Jump.” He didn’t know where the familiar voice came from, but as The Hat stayed in his line of sight, he couldn’t help but trust it.

He looked down. His arms were tied behind his back—when had that happened? always, it had always been that way—and if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he had no chance of surviving if he jumped.

The whirlpool at the bottom of the waterfall—it had always been a whirlpool, what else could be there—would drown him as soon as he reached it.

“Jump.”

He knew Luffy, knew he wouldn’t ask him to jump if he didn’t have a plan.

“Jump.”

Closing his eyes, he let his body fall forward—back, he was falling back, and he could see the blue sky through his open eyes. The bright spot that was the straw hat drew his attention once again, and he tried to catch Luffy’s eyes. His face was hidden in the shadow of the hat, and for a moment Drake feared that he wouldn’t be able to see him before reaching the bottom. Then a hand went up to his head, catching the edge of the hat and pushing it roughly off his head, sending it flying away and revealing a familiar face.

Red hair kept short, one of the few habits he hadn’t lost from his days in the Marines, a prominent chin, fair skin that twisted around his mouth in the scowl he always wore when he caught a glimpse of Drake.

“Jump, Dory, and die.” Ordered Diez Barrels, his voice indistinguishable from Drake’s own.

Drake gasped as his body breached the water, his breath leaving him at the impact. He could only stare as the surface got further and further away from him, his surroundings darkening until he no longer could see anything, and could only feel the pressure of the water around him and the burn in his lungs.

He woke up with a gasp, clutching at his chest. For a moment he could only hear his pants and the fast drumming of his heart, until he managed to calm down enough to focus on the outside world.

The sound of other people breathing filled his ears, and he looked around. The room was dark, only illuminated by the cold light of the moon, but it was enough for him to see the sleeping bodies of his crewmates surrounding him.

Luffy was spread out on the bed, somehow having managed to move enough in his sleep that his head was at the bottom of the bed. His arms were spread wide on each side of his body, and Drake couldn’t help but smile at the openness of his position, Luffy looking entirely unburdened. Despite not being back at full strength, his body still feeling the aftereffect of having been pushed too far in his fight against Lucci, he didn’t feel the need to guard himself in his sleep.

Zoro had one leg crossed over the other, arms crossed behind his head in a position very similar to his usual napping one. Chopper had joined Usopp in his bed, snuggling into his torso, which wasn’t unusual. The doctor rarely slept alone at night, often joining the other men. Drake suspected part of it was his animal instinct warning him when the others had uneasy nights or trouble sleeping, and part of it was Chopper’s own need not to be alone.

Nami and Robin both looked relaxed as well, but they didn’t usually sleep in the same room since they had their own quarters on Merry and as such he had no idea if they were sleeping normally.

Everyone was alright. A hint of grief turned down the corner of his mouth as he thought of the crewmate who hadn’t survived, but he focused on the humans of the crew. They had gotten out of Enies Lobby without serious injuries, and their wounds were healing quickly. Chopper had made him drink a full bottle of milk to fix his bones, and he had regained full mobility in his left arm.

He slowly slipped out of the bed and to his feet, trying to make as little noise as possible. The others still needed their rest, and he didn’t want to disturb them.

The door of the building they were staying in clicked close behind him, and he took a few steps away, turning to watch the sea.

The air was cold at this hour of the night, and it helped wake him up and shake the last remnants of his nightmare away. Even if the moon wasn’t full, the lack of clouds meant that it still shone brightly. The town was dark enough that he was even able to see the stars clearly in the dark sky.

“Are you alright?”

Nami’s voice took him by surprise, and he startled badly as he turned to face her. He hadn’t heard her coming, distracted by the peaceful scenery.

“I’ll be.” He answered truthfully. He couldn’t quite remember what his nightmare had been about, but he hadn’t forgotten the face of his father glaring at him. It would take him a moment, probably most of the night, to get back to normal.

Nami stayed silent, not wanting to push him. She knew what it felt like to have nightmares, and she never wanted to talk about them afterward. Still, she didn’t want to leave him alone. Even if it mostly was because she knew a silent and non-judging presence helped, she also disliked the idea of him going anywhere alone. She knew it was absurd, no one on this island would try to attack them, but she didn’t think she would feel better until they left Water 7 behind.

The slight breeze was chilling against her uncovered skin and she leaned against his arm, both to share body heat and in silent support. He automatically adjusted his stance, letting her lean against his side instead and wrapping the arm around her shoulders.

“I’m glad you’re alright.” He said in a quiet voice as he spotted a white bandage peeking from under her shirt. He couldn’t quite remember the injury; it hadn’t been anything serious, probably just a scratch, but Chopper was diligent when it came to wrapping their wounds.

“I should be the one saying that.” She countered without heat.

They fell silent once more, taking in the peaceful sight. Now that the Aqua Laguna was over, the island had gone back to its usual temperate climate. Spring on a spring island was always warm during the day, and even the nights weren’t too cold.

“I was so afraid.” It was Nami who broke the silence once again, her voice barely louder than a whisper. “I feel like I’ve been terrified ever since we crossed the Red Line.” Back in the East Blue, she had known the strength of her opponent compared to hers. Sure, she wouldn’t have faced Buggy or Kuro on her own, but the rest of their crews was manageable. Weaker than her. Even at Arlong Park, she had known when she had accepted their help that Luffy and the others would defeat Arlong, and for the first time since she had discovered the existence of Fishmen she hadn’t felt afraid of them.

But after Reverse Mountain… Whiskey Peak hadn’t been too bad, robbing people blind while they tried to take advantage of her was something she was used to doing. Then there had been Little Garden, with its dinosaurs and giants. She had fallen sick and couldn’t remember much about Drum Kingdom, but after that came Alabasta, where she had faced for the first time an enemy that had been far stronger than her and had attempted to kill her, and had managed to win on her own. Skypiea had been worse. Enel might not have been a god, but did it matter when he was so strong that he could kill people in one strike and from the other end of the island? Her crew had gotten hurt, Drake had almost died, and she had been unable to do anything to stop it. And now, Enies Lobby. Even if her fight against Kalifa had gone well thanks to Usopp’s help, they had barely gotten away from the island, and she had felt terrified for Robin, Drake, and everyone on the crew all the while.

She raised her head, her anguished eyes catching his. “How can I keep going when I feel like I’m already struggling to stay afloat?”

He thought about her words for a moment, wanting to give her feelings the consideration they deserved, before he sighed softly.

“As callous as that may sound… You get used to it.”

“Will I? The last two islands were… I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse.” Even disregarding the growing strength of their opponents, their motives had only gotten worse.

There had been something safe in facing Baroque’s Works, in knowing that those people did it for the power, for the money. Those were two things that made the world go round, and while Crocodile was an absolute bastard, he still had objectives she could understand. She hated his methods, but she could understand them. Crocodile may have caused a civil war and been indirectly responsible for the death of hundreds, maybe thousands of people, but it had been with the goal of obtaining a weapon of unimaginable power, and she could see how it had been worth in his head, pitting his personal gain against the suffering of the unknown masses.

But Enel had been about to wipe out a whole civilization just because he had no need for them any longer. They hadn’t been a threat, they hadn’t tried to stop him from leaving the island. He had tried to destroy Skypiea because he was able to, and because he was a psychopath who thought of himself as a god who had a right over other people’s lives.

And the Cipher Pol agents, as well as the Marines, had treated the Buster Call as if it had been just one more weapon in their arsenal. Something that could be unleashed anywhere, at any time, and without a care for the consequences.

“Sometimes it’ll be worse.” Answered Drake. “Sometimes, it’ll be better. Not everyone we will face will be a genocidal bastard, some will be regular bastards.” She let out a small laugh and he smiled, glad to have distracted her from her depressed mood. “The fear never really goes away.” He admitted. “I was terrified back then, for myself, for Robin, for all of you who were risking your life to save us. But I didn’t let it stop me. That’s what I mean, when I say you’ll get used to it. You’ll learn to work through your fear because there is no other choice, and you’ll push it back into the background so it doesn’t slow you down, until you’re somewhere safe and can break down.”

“Do you really think I will?”

“I know you will. There are two types of people that survive the Grand Line. Those like Luffy or Zoro, who revel in the increasing challenge. They don’t-” He cut himself off. It wasn’t that Luffy and Zoro didn’t care about their life. They weren’t suicidal. “They are willing to risk their lives to fulfill their dream. And then there’s the other, who wouldn’t risk death to achieve theirs, but would do it to help the first type of person do.” Sure, he wanted to see the World Government fall, but he wouldn't have set sail to do so if it hadn’t been for Luffy. “We’ll keep on going because Luffy needs us to become the Pirate King, and there is no way he’s not going to reach the throne.”

“Yeah… He’d be so lost without me, he won’t reach the end of the Grand Line if he can’t even navigate to the next island.” Nami answered, only half joking.

“Even if you weren’t the best navigator on the sea, he’d want you. Sure, you might not be his best friend like Usopp is, but he still cares for you, and he even listens to you at times.”

Nami blushed, hiding her face behind a hand. “Stop it.” She muttered, embarrassed.

From his position behind the door, Usopp slowly let his hand fall from the handle. He had woken up and noticed Drake and Nami missing, so after managing to get away from Chopper without waking him he had planned to go outside, only to catch the last bit of their conversation. Drake had admitted so freely that he had been afraid that Usopp felt ashamed of feeling ashamed for having been terrified.

But more importantly…

‘I’m Luffy’s best friend?’

~~One Piece~~

Robin sighed happily, sipping through a straw a drink so pink it glowed, which Drake suspected it had alcohol in it. The two of them were sitting in deckchairs, watching as the rest of the crew played in Iceburg’s private pool.

While the two older Devil Fruit users had no interest in getting too close to a body of water large enough to drown them, Chopper and Luffy had no such restraints. Luffy was floating atop a donut buoy while Chopper was sitting on Sanji’s shoulder to stay mostly dry.

Footsteps warned them of someone approaching and Robin shifted slightly, glancing back through her hair. When she lost the hint of tension that had appeared through her frame, indicating that it was someone they knew and not one of the numerous citizens of Water 7 who tried to approach them each time they were outside, Drake turned to face the newcomer.

“Hey, taking a pause?” He greeted as Franky came into view, a plate full of finger food in his hands.

“It’s too hot to work right now,” Franky complained. Ever since they had received the Adam Wood, the Galley-La and Franky had been slaving away to build the Straw Hats a ship worthy of its predecessor and of the crew that would be sailing on it.

They had reached a part in the construction process where they couldn’t stay in the shade inside the half-built ship if they wanted to keep working on it. Even if the project was fascinating for him, igniting his passion for shipwrighting that he had tried to replace with dismantling ever since Tom’s arrest, he had no interest in getting heat stroke because of the burning sun and lack of wind. It wouldn’t be any trouble to stay awake the whole night to keep working on his masterpiece, so he didn’t feel bad for the pause he was currently taking.

“The weather really makes one want to relax.” Commented Robin, smiling at Franky and silently inviting him to join them. The shipwright sat cross-legged on the ground between them, and they turned back to watch the crew’s shenanigans.

Usopp was trying to convince Luffy and Chopper that he was a world-renowned swimmer and had won the Annual East Blue Swimming Competition three times in a row. Sanji was mocking him, throwing little barbs to show his tale wasn’t coherent, only staying near because he was Chopper’s designated minder that day and the reindeer was fascinated by the story. Zoro was leaning against one of the edges of the pool, elbows on the ground to help him stay in place as he flapped his legs and tried to create a wave big enough to drench Sanji’s hair without hitting Chopper.

Nami had commandeered the other donuts buoy and was lazily drifting around the pool, scowling at Zoro each time one of the waves he created pushed her further into a corner, trapping her. She blindly patted the ground behind her, knowing that she had put her clothes as well as her clima-tact close by, planning to send water bubbles at Zoro so he would stop bothering her.

“It’s weird.” Mused Franky.

“What is?”

“Seeing them right now, you would think that they’re normal teenagers, not that they would be capable of even half the things they’ve done.”

“Luffy has never hidden what he wants from life.” Answered Robin, making Drake smile at the use of Luffy’s name. It was good to know that she fully acknowledged her part in the crew and no longer tried to distance herself from them by using titles. “Becoming the pirate king may be his most obvious goal, but keeping his friends safe and happy through his journey is a close second.”

“When he said he was going to be the pirate king, before he burned the World Government’s flag, he sounded so sure of himself that I couldn’t help but believe him for a moment.” Admitted Franky.

“You’re not the only one.” Said Drake. “It had the same effect on me when I first heard him say the words.”

“Hearing him talk, you would think it’s a done deal.” Added Robin.

“Which is weird, because he’s far too young to have ever known a time when Roger was alive.” Said Franky.

He had met Roger and his crew when he was younger and they had stopped at Water Seven, and while he hadn’t interacted with them at the time, he could remember that most of the pirates had a confidence in themselves that came from having already traveled through the Grand Line, which the Straw Hats clearly lacked. However, they had the same sort of… Energy. He couldn’t put it into words, but it made him believe that the crew would be able to achieve everything they set their minds to.

“Damn.” Muttered Drake. “I know we’re older than them, but I never stopped to think that none of them were even alive when Roger launched the golden age of piracy.”

“And to say that I still remember the day he died as if it was yesterday.” Said Franky. “And I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.” Tom had been devastated, he had been friendly with the Roger pirates, beyond the business deal that came with building the Ororo Jackson.

“It changed everything.” Added Drake. He still remembered being in a seedy bar with his father’s crew despite only being ten years old, knowing he couldn’t leave without getting beat up later because his father didn’t want a sea-damned coward unable to even act like a man for a son. Then the News Coos had arrived, carrying the news of Roger’s successful execution, and the whole bar had exploded in happiness, everyone drinking even more to celebrate his demise. When Roger’s words had started to register over the next few days, chaos had truly begun, people who had been up until now happy playing criminal on their own island suddenly setting sail to do it on the open sea instead. The North Blue had been thrown into chaos until Doflamingo had come into power and took charge of the underworld a few years later.

“How was it?” Asked Luffy, making them jerk out of their memories, surprised to see him floating near the edge of the pool.

“Roger’s death?” Clarified Robin.

“Yeah! I know what he said about the One Piece, and that he was killed in Logue Town, but I’ve rarely heard anyone say anything good about him. Just that people were glad he was dead and his whole family should die as well.” He scowled darkly at that, but continued talking before anyone could question the reaction. “But I know he was a good guy.” His eyes suddenly started twinkling. “Did you meet him?”

“Ah, no.” Answered Drake when Luffy looked at him, surprised at the question. “I’m from the North Blue, remember? He was in the New World for years before his death, didn’t come back to one of the Blues. Well, except for his execution.”

“Nobody knows where he was during the last year before he was caught.” Countered Franky. “He certainly wasn’t with his crew. Maybe he was in the New World, but he could have been anywhere.”

“How do you know that?” Asked Robin, curious. She had still been on Ohara when Roger died, so she didn’t know much about him other than what could be found in old newspapers.

“His crew may have stopped for repairs once or twice during that time.”

“Really?” Asked Luffy, awed. The rest of the crew had joined him at the edge of the pool and were listening to his words intently. “Can you tell me about him? Please?”

“I never interact with him.” Franky admitted. “But he was friends with Tom, the man who taught me and Iceburg everything we know about being a shipwright. The first thing I can remember…” He started to describe what he could remember about the crew, mostly talking about Oden since he had been the only Roger pirate he had talked with, as he still greatly disliked pirates at that time.

Chapter Text

“You can’t jump directly to hardening if you haven’t mastered basic Armament before.” Sighed Drake, feeling like he had already explained this a dozen times.

Oh, right, that was because he had. But Zoro was determined that he would learn how to coat his swords in Haki, unhappy that his normal strikes had been too weak to cut through Kaku’s Tekkai.

“Then how do I master basic Armament faster?” Said Zoro.

“I don’t know. At that point, I don’t think I can help you. You’ll feel it once you’re good enough to try learning hardening, but up to that point it’s only your own training that can help you improve.

“How did you do it?”

“Learn Armament? It took me a couple of years to get to where I am, and that’s only because I pushed myself to learn as quickly as possible so I could rise through the ranks. You need to know both types of Haki to become a Vice Admiral.” He explained.

“I don’t have years to waste.”

“Zoro, it’s not going to take you years. I don’t think you understand how much of a monster you are. All three of you.” Talking about Luffy and Sanji.

“I know I’m-”

“No, you don’t. You really don’t. I know you want to become the world's greatest swordsman. I’ve seen hundreds of swordsmen in the Marines with the same dream, looking at Mihawk with awe in their eyes the few times he came to Marineford.” Zoro frowned slightly, as if it was the first time he was thinking of the fact that other people were gunning for Mihawk’s head and he might not be the first one to defeat him. “Zoro, you’re the first person I’ve met who I truly believe can achieve it.”

Zoro jerked at that, shock showing on his face, before he blushed and looked away.

He wasn’t used to people believing he could succeed and telling him so clearly. Sure, Luffy had never hidden that he trusted him to one day become the best, but it was Luffy. Luffy, whose goal was even crazier, and who no one in the Straw Hats doubted he would one day achieve. Zoro had always felt that he was the odd man out in the crew, the only one whose dream wouldn’t be achieved just by sailing with Luffy.

Of course Nami would one day map the entire world, because Luffy would look for adventure in every hidden corner of the sea. Of course Sanji would find the All Blue, because Nami would take him here and the place sounded stupid enough to actually exist—who dreamed of finding fish of all things? Usopp would become a brave warrior of the sea, because he was already one and he was the only person who didn’t see it.

Chopper would become the world's greatest doctor if only because Luffy was reckless and would manage to get every type of injury known to men, and even a few unknown. Drake would see the World Government destroyed, because even if they didn’t plan for it they would end up toppling it without even trying to (Luffy was great like that). The poneglyphs were linked to the One Piece given the message Robin had found on Skypiea, so she would be able to find the stones and the story hidden behind them while sailing toward the last island on the Grand Line.

But Zoro… Even if sailing with Luffy had taken him to Mihawk the first time, and they would meet again, of that he was sure, only he could become good enough to win their next fight. There would be no help from anyone on the crew.

And at first, he had been alright with it, back when he had still been ready to kill Luffy if he ever got in his way. But now, after having sailed with him for so long, he knew he could no longer hide how deeply he felt for his captain.

He would lay out his life for Luffy without him ever having to ask.

In the face of his new convictions, his dream—Kuina’s dream—seemed to fade away, to lose its significance. Even though he still trained ten times harder than every other member of the crew and still believed that he would one day defeat Mihawk and become the world’s greatest swordsman. He just believed in Luffy more.

To see other people acknowledging his dream was jarring, especially when he felt, in moments of self doubt and recrimination, that he had forgotten it.

“Shut up.” He scratched the back of his head, flustered.

“Anyway, I have no doubt you’ll manage soon, especially given how much you want it. Armament is half physical ability and half willpower, and you have both in spades.” Said Drake, outwardly ignoring the younger man’s reaction to his words and not showing how adorable he was finding it. Adorable wasn’t a word often used to describe Roronoa Zoro. “You should-” They both jerked to their feet as they heard a sudden crash close by.

“That’s the building we’re staying in.” Said Drake before they both started to run, Zoro half a step behind Drake and for once not straying.

“Who is it?” Asked Zoro, worry in his voice, no doubt thinking of the Marines they had left behind, or the CP9 agents that might still be alive.

“I don’t know.” Answered Drake, focusing on the unknown presence. The fear and panic coming from the crewmembers still inside the building—everyone except for him and Zoro—made it hard for him to focus, and he could only feel that whoever they were, they were very strong. “Shit, even Luffy’s panicking.” He muttered, throat constricting as he tried to think of a threat large enough to make their fearless captain feel so much terror.

They didn’t slow down as they reached the usually peaceful and empty square in front of the building, now filled with Marines. Drake took in the way the Marines were staying outside of the building, on guard but not expecting a fight, ‘meaning that whoever is inside, they’re sure he’s not going to lose against the crew, can this situation get any worse?’, as he collided with the few soldiers standing in his path, dashing through them as quickly as he could, Zoro hot on his heels as they reached a newly created hole in the house.

And then he came to a sudden stop as he entered the room and saw what was happening.

Yes, it could get worse.

“Oh gods kill me now.” He blurted out as he took stock of Monkey D. Garp standing in the middle of the room, holding Luffy by the collar of his shirt, both asleep.

“Don’t fall asleep in the middle of our fight!” Shouted Garp, suddenly awake, fist crashing against Luffy’s skull before anyone could react and waking up their captain.

“That hurt him.” Gasped Nami, watching with wide eyes as Luffy grasped his head in pain.

“Was that Haki?” Asked Sanji.

Garp eyed him at the comment. “Of course, you know about Haki.” He said, turning to look at Drake who couldn’t help but take a step back, almost walking into Zoro. “If it isn’t little Dory… I remember you from when you were still a child.”

Drake swallowed heavily, keeping quiet the comment that he had been in his early twenties, not a child, when they had first met.

“Gramps, don’t frighten my crew!” Shouted Luffy, finding his courage again now that Garp’s attention was no longer on him, even if his legs were still shaking.

“GRAMPS??”

“Bwahahahah.” Garp laughed freely as the revelation made Nami and Usopp fall to the ground in shock, the others looking just as surprised.

“That’s Monkey D. Garp.” Said Drake, because informing his crew on what they didn’t know was like second nature by that point, even if he instantly regretted it because the Marine’s attention fell onto him once again.

“Garp… Garp The Fist?” Asked Sanji.

“The Hero of the Marines?” Added Nami.

“Yes, that’s him.” Answered Luffy, moving so that Garp was closer to him than the rest of his crew. “Don’t try to fight him, he’s far stronger than us and he won’t hesitate to try to kill me.”

“What are you saying about your dear Grandpa!” Shouted Garp, offended. “I’ll have you know that everything I did was to help you become a strong Marine. Sure, I might have sent you for weeks in the forest without food, and thrown you down a ravine with a crocodile-filled river at the bottom and made you climb it back up on your own, and made you fight a pack of wolves without weapons, but I did it all in the name of love.”

The wave of disgust, followed by reluctant realization that swept through the room was almost drowned by the sheer rage that came out of Sanji. His only visible eye was glaring at Garp with the fury of a man whose hatred was personal, and Drake had the feeling that it wasn’t all because of the ‘without food’ comment.

Drake knew who his birth family was, and he wasn’t surprised that Sanji had feelings about the abuse their captain had been subjected to as a child. He could remember the blonde telling him he had left the North Blue more than ten years ago, and you didn’t change Blues as a kid to get away from your family if you had any other choice.

“It’s a wonder he even survived.” Commented Zoro, and when Zoro of all people felt that the training—and he used that in the loosest form of the world because it definitely wasn’t feeling like training to Drake—was too harsh it definitely meant something.

“And then you went and became a pirate, all because of that lousy red hair!”

“Shanks isn’t lousy!” Shouted back Luffy. “He’s my hero and he gave me my hat. You… You’re the one who's lousy!”

“You little-” Garp turned red in anger, fist rising in the sky before Nami interrupted with a gasp.

“Wait, red hair, Shanks, you don’t mean…”

“Red-Haired Shanks gave Luffy his hat?” Asked Sanji, dumbfounded.

“Oh, you know Shanks?” Luffy asked, forgetting about his wrathful grandpa at once when hearing the name of his childhood hero.

“He’s only one of the Yonko,” Zoro said sarcastically. Sure, he had heard Luffy say Shanks' name when recounting how he had gotten his hat, but he hadn’t realized it was the Shanks. He couldn’t say he was truly surprised to learn that Luffy’s childhood hero was one of the most dangerous men in the world.

“Is that important?”

“That’s the Whitebeard situation all over again.” Nami despaired. How could Luffy be connected to so many important people and still be entirely ignorant of how the world worked?

“They’re one corner of the Three Great Powers that maintain world peace.” Explained Garp. “There are the Marines on one side, who represent justice; the Yonko on the other side, who are the four most powerful pirates captains in the world; and the Shichibukai, seven powerful pirates who are allied with the World Government.” He easily ignored the fact that they were on six right now, because of the people in the room. “That the balance between those three forces is maintained is imperative unless one wants the world itself to fall into anarchy.”

“And Shanks is one of those pirates? I always knew he was powerful.” He wasn’t quite sure what anarchy was, but it sounded important if it had both Marines and pirates involved.

Garp scoffed. “That brat isn't that powerful. Not like your grandpa.”

“Pirates are far better than Marines.” Said Luffy, arms crossed over his chest and with a pout on his face.

“I'll have to agree with him on that.” Said Drake as Garp's face started to turn red in anger, diverting the attention away from his captain. He felt confident Garp wasn’t actually here to arrest them. Mostly confident. Maybe thirty percent confident.

“Hmph.” Garp glared at him, but it wasn't truly angry and Drake managed to stand his ground. Then again, Garp was rarely really angry, Drake could only remember the once, not that it made him any less terrifying. There was no need for anger when you could one-hit KO most opponents.

“Well, you seem intent on poaching our good men away from us.” Said Garp, ignoring Drake blinking in surprise at the unexpected compliment. “I don't think I'm going to let you get in touch with my protégés.”

“Pro-tuh-jay?” Luffy tried to repeat the unfamiliar word.

“Oi, you brats.” Shouted Garp, turning to look at the Marines waiting outside while trying to look like they weren’t listening to the drama occurring inside.

Two Marines entered the room, standing at attention just inside the threshold. They were both young, younger than Drake had been when he had joined, but the stiffness in their posture revealed that they had been in the Marines for at least a few months. The smaller one had pink hair, held back from his head by a bandanna and a pair of large glasses. Despite him keeping his eyes forward now, Drake hadn’t missed the way he had glanced at Luffy and Zoro when entering. The other’s eyes were hidden by a black visor, his clothes a mix between the usual uniform and a suit, the sort of thing only people higher ranked usually wore—but given Garp’s rather loose application of regulations it wasn’t surprising to see some of the people working under him not wearing their uniform properly.

“Who’s that?” Luffy asked.

The blonde grimaced while the pink-haired one broke position to rub at the back of his head, embarrassed according to the blush that tinted his cheeks.

Drake found himself temporarily distracted, a thought of ‘cute’ flashing through his head, before refocusing once he started to talk.

“I guess I have changed since we last saw each other, Luffy, Zoro.”

“You know us?” Asked Zoro, tilting his head to the side in thought. “Pink hair, pink hair… Where have I seen pink hair before…”

“AH!” Shouted Luffy, pointing a finger at him. “You’re Coby!”

“Who’s that?” Asked Nami. She had joined not long after Zoro but had never heard of him before.

“He’s a crybaby I met before finding Zoro.”

“...Somewhat accurate.” Coby acknowledged.

“He wanted to join the Marines,” Zoro added, adding more context to the story. “Luffy helped him by taking out a corrupt Marine captain.”

“I’m not even surprised.” Nami sighed. Coby must have impressed Luffy despite him calling him a crybaby.

“One day I’m going to be stronger than you, and I’ll arrest you, Luffy!”

“Shishishi!”

“Don’t laugh.” Bemoaned Usopp.
“We’re not letting you arrest Luffy!” Protested Chopper at the same time.

“Ah, no, no.” Coby spluttered, holding out his hands to the side to show he wasn’t threatening them. “I’m not going to try now, of course, neither of us is strong enough yet to have a chance at winning a fight.” He added, pointing toward the still-unknown blonde at his side. Everyone had heard the tales of how Luffy had defeated the strongest agent in Cipher Pol’s history and destroyed a warship at the same time.

“But mark my words, Roronoa Zoro, I’ll defeat you one day!” The blonde boasted.

“Who’re you?”

“Gnhk- Helmeppo, Helmeppo, don’t you remember me?”

“Nope.” Zoro answered frankly.

They ignored him as he fell to the floor in depression. Garp stepped past him and looked at the Marines standing outside. “Anyway, that wall got broken, so you have to fix it. Can’t have my grandson sleeping in a ramshackle house.”

“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO BROKE IT!” They shouted out all at once.

“Bwahahaha! Alright, alright.” He acknowledged good naturally. Supplies were quickly spread around the Marines and Garp dropped to the ground, sitting cross-legged in front of the wall as he started nailing down planks. The crew started to feel awkward, standing around without doing anything, but none of them wanted to offer their help—it was a question of principle, and Garp had been the one to break the wall.

“So, Luffy,” Garp said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. “I heard you met your dad at Loguetown.”

“I have a dad?”

“Everyone has a dad, dumbass.” Answered Sanji, before registering what Garp had just said. “At Loguetown?” He repeated under his breath, thinking back on that chaotic day.

“Who is he?” Luffy asked, only curiosity in his voice. He had never thought before that he would have a dad as well! It had always only been his grandpa alone, then Makino, and later Dadan, Ace, and- he cut the thought off quickly.

“Your father is Monkey D. Dragon. The revolutionary.”

W
   H
      A
         T
            ?!

Seeing the shocked look on the Marines’ faces was funny, and Luffy would have laughed if his crewmates hadn’t reacted with just as much shock, Chopper joining Nami and Usopp in falling to the ground while Drake choked on his own spit and started to cough his lungs out.

“...Is he anyone important?” He asked, for the second time in the day.

“Dragon—hm.” Robin cleared her throat, not quite managing to stay stoic in the face of such revelations. “Dragon is the leader of the Revolutionary Army, a force which is neither affiliated with the Marines nor the pirates, and whose goal is to overthrow the World Government.” Luffy nodded to show he was following so far. “His actions caused him to be labeled as the worst criminal in the world, and he is the man with the highest bounty ever offered since the creation of the World Government.”

“Oh, wow.” Luffy said, impressed. He didn’t really care about him being his dad, but it was still cool. He must have been really invested in his own dream if he had gotten such a reputation.

“You didn’t know?” Nami hissed, turning toward Drake. She hadn’t been quiet enough since everyone in the room heard her and turned toward Drake, who shook his head.

“I never heard his last name before.” And the secret must have been very well guarded, he had never heard even one rumor about Garp and Dragon being related. Not that he had ever been close with Garp, but Tsuru had served as a mentor to him at one point, and the two Vice Admirals were friends. If either of them had mentioned it, he would have remembered.

“You know, we thought that you had joined my idiot son at first, when you left.” Garp commented.

“Yeah, don’t you want to destr-” Usopp cut himself off as he was glared at by everyone, with not-so-discreet glances toward Garp. “I mean. Since you’re not a fan of the World Government.” He finished with a cringe.

“I’m not a fan of the Revolutionary Army. Without euphemism.” Drake admitted. “I might agree with their objectives, but not their methods.” He didn’t elaborate any further, and they didn’t bother asking with strangers in the room.

He had always, throughout his career, put his priority on protecting civilians, even over catching criminals. The revolutionaries were very good at what they did, which was stirring up discontent until the civilians were the ones to take their weapons and rose against the nobility. While they stayed around at first, at least up until the nobles had either been killed or chased off the island, they then left them to fend for themselves, sometimes helping by supplying weapons.

They never were around when the Marines forcefully stopped the revolution and put back the surviving nobles in charge. Generally through mass murder or other just-as-despicable methods to crush the citizens’ spirits.

Drake knew that they did the best they could with their limited means, that destroying the world’s order couldn’t be bloodless and that they had numerous successes, whole islands that had broken away from the World Government and had managed to survive the Marine’s retaliation, but there had still been too many innocent death, too many people who hadn’t known what they were getting into when they raised their weapon and had suffered for it.

It was why he had never tried getting involved with the Revolutionary Army, and they had never tried to get in touch with him either.

“If only my idiot son would stop fooling around and become a Marine… Just like you, Luffy, stop saying you will be a pirate!”

“Never!”

Zoro and Sanji shared a desperate look as grandson and grandpa started once again to shout at each other, for once both thinking the exact same thing.

Idiocy seemed to run in the family.

Chapter Text

After Garp had decided to leave them be, saying that since Luffy was his grandson he wouldn’t try to arrest him, the Straw Hats fell back into a slightly tenser than before wait for their new ship to be constructed.

Franky and Paulie, the only two shipwrights they saw—if only in passing—had told them that they were on the last steps to produce what had been described, multiple times, as a masterpiece.

The fact that they were all waiting for the good news of the reveal was one of the main reasons none of the Straw Hats reacted to two people suddenly crashing into their building while they were eating breakfast. The fact they were quickly identified as members of the Franky Family thanks to their flashy outfits helped as well.

A few seconds after the violent entrance—which would only give out more work for Franky who’d have to repair the broken door—Zambai reached the building and greeted them as he frowned in disapproval at his team mates antics.

“Hey, Zambai.” Easily greeted Usopp, deciding to ignore the two sheepish men picking themselves up from the floor.

“Everything okay?” Asked Chopper.

“No! I mean, yes, everyone is alright and no one is hurt, but we’ve discovered something important.”

“What is it?” Asked Zoro, when it became clear he was expecting the question.

“The newspaper—everyone in your crew got a bounty!”

“Everyone?” Repeated Drake, surprised. This was almost unheard of. Not even the Yonko’s crews received the same treatment; generally, only their strongest officers received a bounty.

They all clamored to their feet, crowding around Zambai as he pushed dishes away on the table to make space for the papers. He quickly took a step back, leaving them alone to discover their new wanted posters.

“Alright.” Said Nami, taking the stack before anyone else could. “We’ll do this one by one, ok? And no getting spoiled!” She warned, pressing the papers against her breasts to prevent everyone from peaking.

After receiving enthusiastic nods from the crew, everyone waiting with bated breath, even the calmest member of the crew looking at her expectantly, she grabbed the first bounty.

“The first one is…” She dragged the last syllable out, watching with amusement as Luffy literally started bouncing in anticipation. “Luffy!” She let out an impressed whistle as she saw the amount on the bottom of the page, before laying it out on the table. While the photo hadn’t changed from his first one, Luffy still smiling brightly at the camera with his signature hat over his head, his bounty had exploded. “350 million beri.” She read out loud, to various shouts of congratulation from the crew. Luffy laughed happily as Usopp twirled him around and Drake fondly messed with his hair, smiling proudly. “You have more than tripled from the last one, congratulations.” Even Nami couldn’t help but be proud of him, even if a part of her couldn’t help but worry about the implications of such a large bounty.

“Defeating the strongest fighter of CP9 in front of thousands of Marines will do that.” Said Drake.

“Good job, captain.” Congratulated Zoro.

“Speaking of good jobs…” Nami continued as she caught a glimpse of familiar green on the next poster. “Roronoa Zoro just got a 120 million beri bounty!” She laid out Zoro’s poster right next to Luffy’s.

“Right, we never saw your first one.” Realized Usopp as Luffy patted Zoro’s back hard enough to make him stumble, even Sanji making a reluctantly impressed face behind his hair.

They had heard of his previous bounty while on Long Ring Long Land, but they never had an opportunity to see the poster since then. “It had definitely been taken in Alabasta,” Usopp added, recognizing the style of the wrecked buildings visible in the background. Zoro was looking past the camera, blood staining his shirt and his face. His mouth was in a straight line, and while he didn’t look as bloodthirsty as he usually appeared while in the middle of a fight, the stern look on his face contrasted with Luffy’s happy one.

“Zoro looks so serious.” Commented Chopper.

“I can’t believe they’re calling me Pirate Hunter.” The swordsman sighed, but he was grinning despite his complaint. His bounty was now higher than Luffy’s had been after taking down Crocodile, and since his goal was to hunt down a specific pirate… He couldn’t be too unhappy about the moniker.

“The next one is Drake, at 150 million.” They hadn’t changed the picture from his first bounty either , and he was seen glaring at the camera from the corner of his eyes, chest tattoo fully on display, readjusting his gloves.

“You had a hat.” Gasped Luffy, instantly zeroing in on the most important part of the picture. “It was a cool hat, where did it go?”

“I honestly don’t know. I think I lost it somewhere on Little Garden.”

“Well, it wasn’t as cool as my hat or Chopper’s, but it still looked good. You should find a new hat.”

“No thank you.” Answered Drake, passing a hand through his hair. It took him time—and an unbelievable amount of hair gel—each morning to style his hair as he did, and a hat would only ruin his efforts.

“You were at 90 million before, right?” Asked Nami, thinking of the different increases. Luffy’s bounty had more than tripled, Zoro’s had doubled and Drake’s had only increased by two-thirds.

“Yes. The increase is mostly because I’ve finally joined a pirate crew, which makes me more dangerous. And they probably didn’t want Zoro to have a higher bounty than me. You wouldn’t believe the thought they put in the amounts.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Chopper.

“Well, they didn’t raise my bounty because I got more powerful—getting a Devil Fruit, unlocking Haki or progressing through the Grand Line are the main three reasons to issue a new bounty. For me, it’s because joining a pirate crew makes me more of a threat to the government. They didn’t have to reassess my threat level while I wasn’t doing anything alone on an island, but now they have a renewed interest in catching me. Zoro got a new bounty because they couldn’t let Enies Lobby go without making a statement, and they have a clear idea of his abilities now, which have definitely increased since Alabasta. They don’t know which one of us is the most powerful since there wasn’t any Rear Admiral for you to clash against, and unless you clearly surpass me in an obvious way I’ll always have a bigger bounty than everyone except Luffy just because I’m more dangerous for political reasons and have been on the Grand Line longer.”

The best rookies that reached the Red Line each year were generally slightly weaker than most Rear Admirals. Those that survived the first few months in the New World and still stayed relevant—far too many either joined a stronger crew or chose a base island and rarely left it— were those capable of quickly bridging the gap between Rear Admiral and Vice Admiral. Since, barring any unforeseen detour, their next island would be Sabaody, Drake wasn’t surprised Zoro was closing in on his level.

“That fits.” Said Nami, thinking back on the bounties in the East Blue. Even if they were far smaller, she could see how factors other than strength played a role in the amount. Don Krieg had been more dangerous than Arlong, not only because of his fleet but because he was an expert at deception, and had the two crews ever clashed against each other she would have put her money on Krieg simply because he had the numbers to overwhelm the small Fishman crew. Arlong still had the higher bounty, and while part of it must have been because of his past in the Grand Line, his species must have played a role as well.

She cleared her throat as she focused back on the present, everyone too focused on congratulating Drake to have noticed her darkening mood. “Well, the next one is Sanji, wanted for 85 million beri.” Sanji’s picture had obviously been taken on the Bridge of Hesitation , the hull of a warship filling the background. It had been taken from the side, his hair bracketing his face and hiding most of it from view with only his nose and his mouth, curved around a cigarette, visible. His tie was hanging loosely around his neck, floating in the air and indicating that he was probably in the middle of a kick when the shot had been taken.

“Very good, for a first bounty.” Said Drake

“You still look classy even in the middle of a fight.” Commented Usopp.

“I don’t want to receive compliments from men!” Protested Sanji. “But I’m not really recognizable on it.” He complained with a pout. Still, he loved his epithet, Black Leg reminding him of Zeff’s old ‘Red Foot’.

“Yeah, your shitty eyebrows aren’t visible.”

“What was that, algae-hair?”

“Boys.” Nami interrupted.

“You look dashing, Sanji,” Robin said, stopping the fight before it could start as Sanji started to fawn over her.

“After Sanji we have Robin, with only a one million increase to reach an 80 million beri bounty.”

“I’m just happy they finally updated the picture,” Robin said with a smile. Finally, they had stopped using the picture that had been taken when she had been eight, where she had looked wary and far too vulnerable, no doubt feeding the bounty hunter’s disillusions that she would be easy prey. She looked far more serious in the new one, arms raised over her chest as multiple marines were being choked in the distance. Though she could have done without being called Devil Child. She was twenty-eight, far from a kid.

“Robin-chan looks so fierce and beautiful.”

“The third to last is Usopp, at 30 million beri.” Nami continued after a smile toward her fellow woman, feeling how few bounties she still had in her hands.

“Shit, that’s as high as Luffy’s first one.” Said Sanji.

“King of Snipers?” Usopp read, bewildered.

“You did hit that small important ship-piece.” Said Zoro, earning an eye roll from Nami at his ignorance. Ship-piece, honestly, it was like he hadn’t cared to learn even the basics about ships.

“You look so strong!” Cheered Chopper. Usopp was looking straight at the camera , one arm held straight in front of him, hand holding his Kabuto, the other drawing the pouch back next to his cheek.

“Ahah, of course! Finally the Marines recognize that I’m far superior to every other sniper out there.” He boasted, but the flush on his face revealed that he was genuinely happy at the wanted poster.

“After that… Oh, here’s mine!” Said Nami, putting her poster on the table next to the others. She couldn’t help but feel dread as she saw the amount. “16 million, that’s so high.”

“N-Nami san, you look…” Sanji fell silent, speechless.

“What is it with that picture, witch?” Grumbled Zoro.

The Marines must not have been able to take a picture while they were fighting on the bridge, and as such it had been taken on Water 7. She had her arms raised above her head, holding her hair away from her face and putting her tattoo on display. She was turned to reveal her naked back, her shoulder blades standing out against her curved back.

“He said he was a journalist for Water Seven’s local newspaper…” She explained, voice faint.

“You’re lucky no one noticed you’re the one that caused the Gates of Justice to close down, or they would have given you a bigger bounty. And probably another epithet than Cat Burglar.” Said Drake. In the chaos of the battle her absence had been overlooked.

“It’s far cuter than ‘Door Closer’ or who knows what the Marines would have come up with, so I’ll take it.” She said with a sigh. “And to end up on our favorite doctor, Chopper! With…” Her voice failed, but she recovered quickly. “500 beris.”

“500?” He repeated, aghast.

“Wait, not even 500 thousand?” Asked Usopp.

“Harsh.” Muttered Zoro.

“The Marine tends to ignore the threat non-human can pose, especially when they aren’t Fishmen.” Said Drake. “I have a polar bear Mink friend, able to take on a full squadron of Marines by himself, and he has a 500 beris bounty as well.” He kept quiet that the real reason was probably that Chopper was cute, and as such the Marines had dismissed his worth. It was rare, but not unheard of, for Minks to receive bounties, and since they had seen Chopper clearly fight alongside them without ever looking like a human, the Government must have assumed he was a Mink, maybe one possessing a Zoan Devil Fruit.

“What’s a Mink?” Asked Nami, but it was drowned out by Luffy and Usopp trying to hype up Chopper.

“You look really fierce here, Chopper!” He was in his Walking Point in the picture , dashing forward with a serious face.

“Yeah!” Agreed Luffy. “You look cool!”

“Shapeshifter Chopper.” Read Robin out loud. “They know you’re dangerous, with an epithet like that.”

“That won’t make me happy, damnit!” Shouted Chopper, cheered up despite himself at their support.

“Anyway, thanks for informing us.” Said Nami, turning toward Zambai and the other Franky Family members, slightly surprised that they had stayed in the room while they took their time looking at the posters.

“That’s not the whole reason why we’re here.” Admitted Zambai. “There was another bounty poster in the newspaper.” With that he held out the paper in front of him for all to see, with a now familiar face on it.

Wanted
Dead or Alive
Cyborg Franky
β 44 000 000

“Big bro Franky can’t stay on Water Seven now that he has a bounty, but he’s too proud to leave by himself! But if you were to ask him, he’d accept to join your crew, he really loves you guys!” Shouted Zambai desperately.

“You guys are stupid.” Deadpanned Luffy.

“What?”

“Franky is already part of the crew.”

“What?!”

“Not that I’m complaining, for once I’m fully agreeing with you Luffy, but since when?” Asked Zoro.

“I don’t know,” Luffy answered with a shrug. “Since Enies Lobby I guess. He was cool there. And then I found out he was a shipwright, so I decided he was part of the crew.”

“You… Didn’t even ask him?” Asked Zambai.

“Why should I need to?”

Zambai looked desperately at the rest of the crew, his gaze pleading for someone to support him.

“Luffy, he might like getting asked.” Drake tried, taking pity on him.

“Why?”

“...”

“Sometimes, as a Man-” Usopp took over, seeing that Drake was lost on how to answer, faced with Luffy’s implacable logic “even if you’re going to say yes, you want to have the choice to say no.”

“Ohhhh. Alright. I’m going to ask him then!” Luffy ran out without giving anyone the time to protest.

“Shouldn’t we follow?” Zambai asked.

“Naah, it’s a done deal.” Said Sanji. “If Luffy wants him, then Luffy’ll get him.”

“And the recruitment might be humiliating enough for Franky that he’d rather not have anyone around.” Added Zoro.

“Oh, I want to hear that story.” Said Nami, sensing he was speaking from experience.

“In your dreams, witch.”

“In my nightmare, most likely.”
“Wanna repeat that, swirly-brow?”
“You’re looking for a fight, directionless idiot?”

~~One Piece~~

After a recruitment that resulted in two broken bones, a destroyed warehouse and the waste of a full crate of tomatoes—Luffy and Franky had agreed never to mention the full scope of the incident in Sanji’s hearing, and ignored Robin’s knowing looks—the crew was happy to finally have a proper shipwright in their midst. Franky still didn’t spend a lot of time with them, too busy with putting the finishing touches to their new ship, but they did get to know him better. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper—the kiddy trio, as Robin and Drake liked to think of them—were especially big fans of his cyborg body, and all the little tricks he had implemented.

(Drake as well couldn’t help but look when he did something particularly cool, but forced himself never to react. He had a reputation to maintain.)

When he wasn’t there, the discussion often came back to Merry’s successor. Usopp was anxious to see their future ship, but was hopeful; the Galley-La were obviously professionals and Franky was extremely talented as well as invested in the project. Nami was trying not to get her own hopes up about how easy it would be to navigate it. The Log Pose had set over the last days, and it led to her wondering how they would reach the New World.

“Officially there are two ways.” Answered Drake when she asked him. “But since we’re pirates, we won’t be able to go through Mary Geoise, so there is only one path we’ll be able to take. The underwater paradise, Fishman Island.”

“Fishman Island? Do you mean…” Sanji was unable to finish his sentence.

“I mean Fishmen.” Drake answered, before adding after a couple of seconds when Sanji’s face fell in disappointment. “And Mermaids.”

“What’s so great about Mermaids?” Nami snapped when he started to swoon, which calmed him down immediately. He threw her an apologetic smile. Drake frowned at her uncharacteristic and unwarranted anger at Sanji’s usual swooning antics, but dismissed it.

“It’s an underwater island, right?” Asked Usopp, refocusing them on the conversation and giving Nami a moment to calm down, knowing that she never reacted well when Fishmen were brought up. Knowing that they had no other chance than pass through an island populated with them…

“Once we get closer to the Red Line we’ll get access to the means to get there.” Drake explained, aware that Luffy didn’t want to get spoiled and would get a kick out of the coating process. “The real problem isn’t Fishman Island, but the journey to get close to the Red Line.”

“Are you talking about the Florian Triangle?”

“GAH!” More than one person shouted in fear as they turned toward the voice to see Kokoro watching them through a window, Chimney and Gombe sitting on the window still and watching them with smiles.

“The Florian Triangle?” Nami asked.

“It’s an area of mysteries and death.” Kokoro explained as the wind started blowing behind her and the sun hid behind clouds, throwing the room into shadows. “It suddenly appeared one day, hundreds of years ago, and nobody knows where it came from. Every year, more than a hundred sailors try to sail through… And disappear. The rare people courageous enough to get near the Triangle have reported that what they saw and heard is haunting their mind, and that is without even entering the place.”

“Will you please stop trying to freak them out?” Drake sighed, relaxing the tension and causing Luffy and Zoro to explode laughing at Nami, Usopp and Chopper’s reaction. Robin chuckled when they fell to the floor in relief.

“That’s not funny.” Shouted Chopper with a pout.

“It is a little.” Admitted Drake, crouching down to pat his back in comfort.

“So… It’s not a horror place?” Asked Usopp.

“Well, it is mysterious, and there have been a lot of disappearances. But recently these can’t be attributed to an unknown phenomenon. The Florian Triangle has been over recent years the hunting ground for Gecko Moria.”

“Gecko Moria… Where did I hear that name before?” Murmured Sanji.

“It’s not surprising you would have heard his name at least once before.” Explained Robin. “He’s one of the Shichibukai.”

“Ah.” Luffy’s face darkened as he put the pieces together.

“As you guessed, he’s not one of the good ones, if this adjective can be attributed to any of the Shichibukai.”

Between Crocodile and Mihawk, who even Zoro could admit had been far too eager to kill over a minor offense, the two Shichibukais they had met hadn’t been good pirates example.

“So we’ll… Try to avoid that area?” Nami asked without much hope.

“Will he give us a good fight?” Luffy asked.

“He’s not the most impressive Shichibukai, and there’s a reason he stays in Paradise instead of the New World. His bounty before it was frozen was in the range of your current one, Luffy, but as far as I know he doesn’t do much nowadays except capture pirates and turn them in.” Moria hadn’t done much else over the last few years, which probably made him one of the most liked Shichibukai by the World Government—or at least one of the less disliked—but his last feat that had been worth reporting about had been decades ago. There was no doubt he was now past his prime, and while Drake had helped Luffy defeat Crocodile back in the day he was sure his captain would annihilate that particular Shichibukai on his own if they ever faced each other.

“Hmm. Meh. Yeah, if you don’t want to go there then we’ll avoid him.” Luffy decided. “I don’t want to waste time in reaching the New World if I don’t even get a good adventure out of it.”

Chapter Text

The wait for the reveal of their new ship was finally over. It had taken less time than Drake had expected. Then again, he had seen how hard Franky and the Galley-La had been working, so he couldn't exactly say he was surprised. The crew had been led toward an open space toward the back of the island where the shipwrights had set up a temporary dock and built their new companion.

It was hidden behind a white sheet, but there were obvious changes that could already be seen. The size of the ship for a start.

Merry had been tiny. She had been a caravel and designed for a rich family to cruise the neighboring islands in the East Blue, with the idea that there wouldn't be many people onboard; the family, their butler, and a captain.

It had been the right size when the crew had left the East Blue, but as soon as they had started to pick up other people—Vivi, Drake, Chopper, and then Robin had taken Vivi’s place onboard—it became too small. Drake had been the one to suffer the most from her small size, since everything had been designed just a little too short for him.

Even entirely hidden, it was obvious that their new ship would have dwarfed her had they been standing side by side. It wasn’t the size of a Marine warship—which was Drake’s standard size to compare ships to—but it looked to be roughly half of it. Given that warships were manufactured to hold half-giants and other taller-than-usual people, it wasn’t a surprise. Drake was the tallest member of the Straw Hat, barely taller than Franky, but he actually wasn’t that far above average for the Grand Line.

Franky looked even more hyped than Luffy, which Drake would have doubted being possible if he wasn’t seeing it with his own eyes. There was a tension in the air that hadn’t been there even when Nami had made them wait to see the bounties.

“You’ll love him,” Franky said after a moment, having let them take what they could from the covered shape.

“Him?” Repeated Usopp, the first to have noticed the slip. Most ships were female, though male ships weren’t rare either. It was surprising to hear Franky already sure of its gender before even sailing on it.

“Ah, I guess.” Franky blinked in surprise, not having noticed his own words. “Just a feeling I have.”

“Now that you said it, it suits him,” Iceburg said. Most of the Galley-La workers were present but on the sideline, not wanting to distract the crew from the reveal. Only Iceburg and Paulie were on the front. Despite having gotten a good night of sleep, having put the last touch to the project in the late afternoon the day before, there were still obvious signs of their tiredness, either from working on this project, rebuilding the destroyed parts of Water 7, or continuing with their previous shipwrighting contracts.

“I think you’ll understand when you see him,” Franky added, turning toward Paulie and Iceburg. “Ready?” He asked them.

“Let’s go,” Paulie answered, grabbing the dozen or so ropes that had been tied together. He gave a harsh tug on them, making the sheet fall off all at once and revealing what was hidden behind.

Drake's eyes took in the generalities before focusing on the details. Red seemed to be the primary color, used on the hull but also on the outside of the cabin from what little he could see from the ground. The second color the most used was yellow, alternating with red in the crow's nest and the figurehead. Drake started to move toward the front of the ship to see its figurehead more clearly when his eyes fell on the third color. It was more discrete, would barely be visible over the water if there weren't small lines that seemed to circle the hull at eye level and just under the railing.

A blueish grey, the dull color doing its best not to attract attention, and Drake wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't seen the exact same shade on other ships before.

Franky's hand clamped over his shoulder before he could say anything, and from the over-exaggerated wink the shipwright threw at him over his glasses he had guessed what Drake has noticed and wanted him to keep quiet about it.

“He looks so cool!” Luffy’s enthusiastic shout brought their attention back to the crew, who was looking at their new ship with awe shining in their eyes—literally for Luffy and Chopper, their eyes were twinkling as if they had stars in them.

“It's a brigantine,” Nami commented, examining it with practiced eyes. “Oh, I was a little worried when I saw his size, but he'll be just as maneuverable as we need.”

“He's even better than anything you can imagine.” Franky boasted. “Let's take a closer look, and then we'll circle back outside so you can see his figurehead and choose a name for him… Thought I have a few names in mind I think would suit him perfectly.”

Luffy barely waited for him to finish his sentence before one of his arms grabbed the railing and he rocketed on the deck. Usopp and Chopper didn’t wait either before running after him, and Luffy's shout of joy made the rest of the crew move as well. Franky showed them how they could bring the ladder down even from the outside, with a lever hidden barely above sea level to be grabbable if one fell overboard.

“It's a LAWN!” Chopper shouted, voice becoming incredibly high-pitched on the last word.

“Right?” Luffy answered, just as loud. “We have grass, on our ship! That's so cool!”

“Organized tour!” Franky shouted. “I have so many things I want to show you.”

“For those willing to wait anyway,” Zoro added, finger pointing up and toward the crow's nest, where Luffy could be seen hanging.

“Eh, Luffy-bro will discover everything on his own.”

“It's not like he'd have the attention span…” Nami said, slowly turning around to look at everything. They hadn't entered the inside of the ship yet, but there were already various things that got her attention.

“The first room is one we men will quickly become accustomed to,” Franky said, leading them toward the front of the ship.

“Oh, is that our quarter?” Sanji asked, entering the room. “There’s so much space.” He added in awe. They had barely fit in their old quarters, with all six hammocks occupied and all their stuff strewn around the room. Despite Chopper putting most of his belongings in the infirmary, and not having much to begin with, and Sanji and Drake being somewhat orderly—Sanji was the only one who really was organized, Drake just knew how to put as many of his things in as little space as possible—Luffy, Zoro and Usopp’s stuff had been more than enough to occupy the little space available.

But now instead of hammocks occupying most of the place, there were bunk beds tucked against one of the walls, enough lockers for every man to use and still leave a couple untouched. And this only occupied half the room; there was a table half sunken into the floor on the other half, and despite the large and comfortable sofas surrounding it there was still enough space to circulate without trouble. Even with everyone except for Luffy in the room at the same time, it wasn’t cramped.

“Those doors on the side lead to the cannons. There are cannons and a small space to operate hidden behind every wall. The set-up is exactly the same each time, so Robin you shouldn’t have trouble operating them all simultaneously.”

He let them all fill out of the room once they had seen everything important. “The women’s bedroom is just above.” He continued, walking up the small staircase that led to the second floor, and he couldn’t help but think that they looked like little ducklings following him around.

~~One Piece~~

Once the tour was done everyone went back to the lawn, with Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp hanging off Franky’s arms and begging to be let on the hidden secrets of their new ship, which Franky had been teasing but was refusing to reveal.

Given that he had reinforced part of the hull with sea stone and was keeping quiet about it, Drake couldn’t even fathom what other surprises he kept.

“What do you think?” Franky asked, turning to look at the rest of the crew—it wasn’t hard to see how hyped up the kiddy trio was—and despite his showman smile and the way he arrogantly moved his glasses to look above them, he couldn’t quite hide that his anxiousness.

“It’s awesome,” Nami said.

“Quite right.” Sanji agreed, hitching to put his hands on some of the state-of-the-art tools he had seen in the kitchen.

“You did excellent work,” Robin said.

“Eh, it’s not like I worked alone. All the Galley-La helped.”

“I guess their reputation really is deserved,” Drake commented. They could all see that the ship really was beyond compare.

Zoro watched as the Galley-La took a step back, leaving them alone now that they had assisted to the reveal. With the way all of their belonging had been boarded up, and the fact that the rest of the island wasn’t aware of where they were, he guessed that it was time for them to leave if they didn’t want to bother with goodbyes.

This had been particularly perceptive of Iceburg, but he wasn’t surprised that a man who had been able to hide all those years the truth from Cipher Pol 9—admittedly while CP9 hid from him—and was in charge of a thriving company was smarter than his laid back behavior suggested.

“Time to go, uh.” He commented quietly.

“We’ve stayed long enough,” Luffy answered, still hanging from Franky’s left arm but with his torso stretched out, one arm looped around the railing to look at the island. He wasn’t above taking time off adventuring. He had liked discovering the town, had liked seeing the people coming together to rebuild and using his powers to help them (not that they let him most of the time), had especially liked to have the time to get to know this new, relaxed Robin who he had only seen glimpses of up until now.

“We’re not quite able to sail now.” Franky interrupted.

“Why not?” Asked Chopper.

“There’s still one thing we need to do. Such an awesome ship needs an equally as awesome name.” Franky pointed out.

“Oh.” Usopp breathed out, brows furrowing as he thought. “Well, with the sunflower figurehead, something plant related would sound nice… Going Sunflower ?”

“That’s as lame as your usual attack names.” Sanji scoffed, ignoring Usopp outraged ‘Hey!’. “I was going to suggest Monsieur Sunflower.”

“Using Northern dialect doesn’t make it cool.” Drake countered.

“Red Dandelion!!”

“Dandelions are yellow, Luffy. And it’s the wrong flower.”

“Well, the sunflower is usually a symbol of happiness, so to contrast with it I propose Hyacinth’s Sorrow. They’re flowers associated with funerals in the West Blue.”

“Robin, that’s way too depressing.”

“It’s not a sunflower! It’s a lion!” Franky shouted.

“Really?” Nami asked.

“Oh! Liberty Roar.”

“Drake, I now know why you never name your attacks.” Zoro taunted.

“Hey!”

“Anyway, Luffy wasn’t too far off with his Dandy-Lion idea.” Zoro continued.

“And you just dared criticize me.”

“What more could you expect from mister Oni Giri ?”

“Swirlybrows if you don’t shut up right this instant-”

“Uh, tigers are cooler than lions… I know, Tiger Lion Tiger!!.”

“Does tiger really need to be repeated twice ?”

“But bears are cool too, and they have more meat—Bear Tiger Bear Lion Bear Tiger Bear!!.”

“By the seas, Luffy...”

“None of those even hold a candle to my own idea-”

“Yeah, speaking of candle, I think it looks more like a sun than a lion.” Nami interrupted Franky.

“Rising Dawn?” Chopper proposed.

“Oh hey, that’s actually not bad.”

“It’s somewhat better than Iceburg’s suggestion of Thousand Sunny, but it doesn’t matter since it’s not a sun-”

“I like Thousand Sunny.” Luffy declared.

“Sounds good, not too lame, not too intimidating.” Zoro agreed.

“And there’s the idea of a thousand sun, lighting up the world.” Sanji added.

“I think Iceburg said something about sailing a thousand seas, but it’s not like-”

“A thousand seas, that’s a nice idea, like we’re going to sail every hidden corner of the world. I like it.”

“Sailing without letting the darkness reach us, uh...”

“Robin, I beg of you, stop being so gloomy.”

“Then, everyone’s alright with it?” Luffy checked.

“Sure.” Most agreed at the same time, ignoring Franky’s imploring “At least wait to hear what I had in mind!”

“Then it’s decided, our new ship and friend will be the Thousand Sunny!”

“Oh, we need alcohol to do a proper kanpai-” Sanji cut off mid-sentence, his head jerking up to look somewhere in the distance, Drake doing the same.

“What is it?” Nami asked, having noticed their move and bringing the cheering crew’s attention to it.

“I believe we’ve reached the end of our peaceful stay here,” Robin said, tilting her head toward the sea, where multiple warships were appearing from behind Water 7.

“Uh oh.”

“Do you think Gramps’ on board?” Luffy asked, a slight tremble in his voice.

“They’re too far for me to say,” Drake answered.

“Well, no matter who’s there, let’s go! We didn’t avoid fighting all those Marines at Enies Lobby just to fight them a week later. Zoro, Franky, release the sails. Usopp, Robin, get to the cannons, we might have to counterattack if we don’t manage to escape quickly enough. Everyone else, get ready to protect the Sunny.” Nami ordered, quickly walking toward the helm.

“It’s almost like Alabasta,” Sanji commented, tapping his foot against the floor a few times.

“Only worse, because this time we’re not again Captains and Marines from the start of the Grand Line, but probably Vice Admirals and Marines coming straight from the Headquarters.” Drake pointed out.

“I just hope we won’t have to fight the Marines each time we recruit someone,” Usopp said.

“Why not? It’d be cool.” Luffy answered.

“No it wouldn’t!” Nami snapped.

“It’d kind of be,” Zoro said as he landed back on deck, the fully deployed sail proudly showing the Straw Hat’s flag. Sanji shrugged next to him, agreeing but not willing to say it out loud.

“Hmm- Hrm hrm. One two, one two, The Seaman Swallow the Sword Swapped by a Seagull.”

“Is your Gramps drunk?” Nami asked.

“If so, I want some of what he took,” Zoro added.

“Well, Ace always did say he was an idiot...”

Garp, for his voice had been clearly recognized by all as he said his non-standard test phrase to see if his megaphone worked, thankfully ignorant of the Straw Hat’s conversation, continued talking.

“Luffy, Luffy, my grandson Luffy, can you hear me?”

“Do you think he’ll go away if we say no?” Usopp, still hanging around the deck despite Nami’s orders, asked with hope in his voice.

“YES, I CAN HEAR YOU GRAMPS.”

“The lungs on that boy.” Drake, having made the mistake of standing less than a kilometer away while Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs, rubbed at his ears.

“Bwahaha! Now, Luffy, I was willing to let you go, but somehow HQ found out where I was-”

“It might be because you told Sengoku you were going to spend time with your family.” A voice added in the background, loud enough to get caught by Garp’s megaphone.

“-and Senny told me to get my ass in gear and catch you, and until you join the Marine you’re considered a criminal-”

“NEVER!”

“-and it is technically my job to capture pirates, so I have no choice but to catch you here and now, Luffy!”

“Nami, our chances of escape?” Luffy asked, not eager to face his grandfather.

“Surprisingly good.” The navigator answered. “The Sunny is small enough to catch currents that the warships won’t be able to use, and even with the Aqua Laguna gone there are a lot of underwater currents that circle Water Seven. The problem is that one of their ships might be able to catch up to us.” She pointed toward the largest ship, which was towering above the others. With its sail span large enough to easily capture the wind, even without using the currents Nami was exploiting it could gain enough speed to keep the chase going.

“And of course it’s the one Garp is onboard.” Drake glared at the battleship, its grinning dog figurehead almost taunting them.

“We won’t be able to leave it behind easily.”

“And I don’t think my usual tricks are going to work this time,” Robin said, a hint of tension detectable on her face.

No doubt they would be expecting her to use her powers after she had put the warships out of commission back in Alabasta.

“Incoming cannonball” She warned a moment later.

“Are they-”
“Is he-”
“Is Garp throwing those cannonballs by hand?”

“It’s better than spears at least,” Zoro commented, grabbing his swords and getting ready to cut the cannonballs before they could reach them.

“Let’s see how manoeuvrable Sunny is.” Nami said with a look of anticipation on her face, steering to the right. The first few cannonballs were far off target, but they quickly got closer as Garp adjusted his aim. Still, none of them ever reached the Sunny, Nami moving it perfectly to avoid every projectile.

“That’s so cool,” Usopp said, aware of how hard it was to dodge, especially when the target was as large as a ship.

“Is Sunny a very good ship or Nami just that scary?” Chopper asked.

“Both.” Answered Sanji and Franky at the same time.

“I don’t think Garp is amused,” Robin commented.

“What’s he doing now?” Luffy asked as something almost as large as the warship Garp was standing on appeared on the deck.

“I have no idea but I don’t like it,” Drake answered.

“Is that a cannonball?” Usopp asked, the first one to guess what the large, black ball was.

“Uh oh.”

“Is he going to throw it at us?”

“He’s crazy enough to,” Luffy answered with a wince.

“I’m NOT going to be able to dodge that,” Nami warned, watching as Garp did a few stretches obviously in preparation for throwing the cannonball at them.

“I didn’t want to use it so early in our journey, but I can get us away.” Franky walked a few steps toward the helm.

“No need,” Luffy answered calmly. “I can send it back.”

“You’re sure?” He checked as Garp grabbed a large chain with both of his hands. “Because if you’re not… Sunny might survive but we definitely won’t.”

“Yes I am. Gear...” Using the chain, Garp launched the far-to-large cannonball up into the sky.

“Oh, he’s really doing it.” Usopp squeaked.

Luffy walked a few steps to be in front of the crew and bit into the hand he had bought up to his face. “Third!”

It was the first time Drake saw it from up close, and the way Luffy’s Devil Fruit distorted his body still had the ability to freak him out after all this time. Luffy exhaled all the air of his lungs into his arm, making it blow up just like a balloon. The air spread weirdly at first, but as he removed his thumb from his mouth and shook his arm, it concentrated into his fist. It wasn’t as big as the cannonball, but big enough to do the job. Luffy jumped up to ensure he wouldn’t accidentally hit the Sunny or anyone from the crew and punched the falling cannonball back up in the sky.

It was like he was just swapping away a normal-sized bullet, and the cannonball bounced on his arm and reversed its course.

However, Garp was still holding the chain connected to it to ensure it would fall on the Straw Hats, and it prevented the cannonball from flying harmlessly into the ocean. It stopped abruptly when the chain unfolded entirely, and Garp released it one moment too late, its path bringing it clearly back toward the marine warship.

“I hate this side effect.” Luffy squeaked, voice as high as he was small.

“It is troubling.” Drake agreed, looking at his captain who was now too small to even reach his knee, not liking to see how using one attack could temporarily render him useless.

“I’ll turn back quickly, but I don’t know how to not get small.”

“Quickly enough? Because I don’t think Garp is going to let his ship get hit.” Sanji said, his gaze not leaving the battleship, now close enough to discern Garp’s posture, one foot back and his fist cocked, ready to punch the returning cannonball away and back toward the Straw Hats.

“No, not quickly enough.” Luffy squeaked.

“Alright, let me...” Franky trailed off as he took over the helm from Nami, fingers pressing on a hidden button behind the wheel. “It might be too late, but if one of you manages to slow it down...”

“He’s going to send it back with even more speed,” Drake said, watching almost in slow motion as the cannonball started to fall toward the battleship.

“And at an angle that’ll make it harder for us to push back.” Usopp analyzed.

“Sanji, Drake.” Zoro ordered, jumping and landing on top of Sunny’s figurehead.

Who knew if the three of them together would be enough to stop a single attack from Garp, someone on par, perhaps even stronger, than the Admirals. But they’d try, and even if it just stalled for time by sending the cannonball back a second time, Franky seemed to have some sort of plan that could save them.

The cannonball finally reached the battleship and Garp unleashed his punch, landing it right in the middle. Zoro, Sanji and Drake tensed, ready to react to the heart-stopping speed it was going to take-

With a crack, the cannonball split cleanly in half, each side falling harmlessly into the water.

“EEEEEH?” Garp’s outraged shout was clear even without using the megaphone. “What kind of shitty manufacturing-”

“Franky, whatever secret weapon you were planning to use, we don’t need it!” Nami gasped, explaining even as Franky reversed the mechanism he had just triggered. “The waves created by the two halves hitting the sea are large enough to halt his ship! They’ve lost all of the speed they’ve accumulated, they won’t be able to catch up with us!”

“Don’t run, shitty grandson! Come back right this instant!” Garp bellowed over the sound of his navigators shouting orders to gain speed once more.

“You’ll never—ah, I’m back—you’ll never catch us!”

“I just said get back here!”

“I’m not listening to you! You-you… You’re as slow as a beetle!”

“What?!”

“Luffy, beetle are not-”
“YOU TAKE THAT BACK!”

“Well, here’s one more thing that runs in that family, their ability to be FAR TOO LOUD!” Nami shouted. They were quickly and surely gaining distance from the Marines, but Garp’s bellows could still be heard clearly as if he was standing right next to them.

“Nami-san, I’d like to keep at least one of my eardrums working, if only to hear and be able to answer your every command.”

~~One Piece~~

Sitting at the top of Water Seven’s main fountain, easily seeing everything happening on the island at his feet and the surrounding ocean, Admiral Aokiji watched as his fellow Marines were left in the wind by a small but resourceful group of pirates.

The corner of his mouth had lifted into a smile, but there was only melancholy in his expression.

He had long hesitated to reach out while they were still on the island but had decided not to in the end. She had looked happy from afar, and he had, at long last, gotten his answer. It had been worth letting her live if only to see such a smile on her face. His presence would only have dimmed her happiness, and after his harsh words during their last encounter…

He closed his eyes and let his sleep mask fall over them, blocking the sunlight entirely. A casual observer would have only seen one of the strongest men in the world relaxing, but the few who had gotten to know Aokiji beyond his laid-back appearance would have noticed the uneasiness in his posture.

“I wonder… How long will you manage to escape, Nico Robin? Once you reach the New World… The World Government will be the last of your worries.”

~~One Piece~~

On an island, not too far from Water Seven, stood an inn.

This inn had seen better days. With the island standing so close to Enies Lobby, the business that had flourished by appealing to pirates' sensibilities had lost most of its traffic.

Even then, if you had talked two days ago to the owner of that decrepit inn, he would have been far too happy to regale you with tales of the good old days, when only local pirates scoured these waters, and those had enough respect to the establishments that served them not to cause too much trouble. The owner, an old man who had taken over the inn by murdering its previous owner, would have then gone on a rant about Gol D. Roger and everything his mere existence had ruined, especially the fact that now crews no longer respected his inn.

Gone was the honor, the old values! Nowadays, young upstarts thought they could run around and dictate how he should do his job!

If you had talked to the owner two days ago, you would have regretted it, as the shitty alcohol served at the bar wasn’t strong enough to make most pirates drunk.

Now, there would be no more complaining for that particular old man. He was currently lying in a dried pool of his own blood, had been for the last day and a half. His killers had left him there without a care; the inn was out of the way of the major roads recently built, but even if it hadn’t been they wouldn’t have bothered to hide the body, as no law enforcement would have a chance of arresting them.

“Captain! Have you seen the news?” The man that had just entered the building was almost as large as he was tall, the top of his head hidden behind a wrestler’s mask that was holding his long hair away from his face.

“What is it?” Asked the captain, one of the five people sitting in various places in the room. Including the newcomer, he was the tallest man in the room, as well as the largest though for different reasons; where his crewmate was heavily muscled, he was only fat.

He took a large gulp of his beer as he waited for his crewmate to answer, knocking it heavily against the table when putting it back down, uncaringly of the way it sloshed out of the pint and onto the table.

“One of those rookies got a new bounty. Far more worth chasing than the others.” He explained, holding out the paper toward his captain who took it eagerly.

Another man rose from where he was reclining against a window, this one far slimmer than the other two, and came to read the newspaper over his captain’s shoulder.

“We aren’t far from Enies Lobby. Fate is once again looking out for us.”

~~One Piece~~

On an island, not too far from Water Seven, stood an inn.

The inn was flourishing. With the island standing so close to Enies Lobby, a new industry had developed over the last decades, and the inn’s traffic reached new highs every year.

Water Seven was useful for business, everyone knew that, but what soldiers trapped all year long in eternal daylight wanted to do in their downtime was too much for a regular city to provide.

That’s why a new city had developed, with the help of the Marines chasing away the criminals that used to approach the island, a city which centered in catering to the soldiers' every need. Beautiful sights, sports ranging from the calmest to the most arduous, relaxation methods for the mind and body through various ways, and most importantly beautiful people, willing and ready. This new city had it all.

A lone man staggered in said inn. While he would have been deemed beautiful by most, none would have expected the reason for his presence.

Firstly, because he was a pirate. The only reason he had reached the lawful side of the island was because it had been the closest one, and after having sailed far too many hours on his own, he wasn’t willing to wait even one minute more to find a bed.

Secondly, he was a pirate on a mission, and his mission wasn’t to murder and plunder like most would have expected. No, he was hunting someone, someone whose Log Pose would have guided toward that particular island.

If he hadn’t had the foresight to put on a shirt in an attempt of stealth, the mere presence of the tattoo on his back would have provoked panic. Now, the few people that noticed him were only wondering if he would have free time later in the night.

As he walked toward the innkeeper, a young woman with a friendly smile busy chatting with a Marine in uniform, he froze when from the corner of his eyes he caught sight of a familiar, grinning face.

“Oh, did he get a new… bounty…” He trailed off as he took stock of the stack of newspapers under the bounty, and his eyes caught on the content of the front page article.

“I don’t like this.” He muttered, gazing at the sea through the nearest window. He was suddenly very aware of how close to Enies Lobby he was, something he had been happy to ignore up until now, but he was especially now aware of how close his target was to what he held most dear. “I don’t like this at all.” He repeated in a worried tone.

Chapter Text

“There’s something floating over there!” Shouted Sanji from his position on top of the crow nest.

“Someone?” Asked Chopper, lifting his head from the book he was reading, leaning on a Chopper-sized deckchair on the lawn.

“I don’t think so… Or a weirdly shaped someone.” Answered Sanji, landing in a slight crouch on the deck next to him. “It’s too far for me to see clearly yet, but it didn’t look like a person.”

“Nope, it’s just a barrel.” Answered Usopp, making Sanji almost flinch in surprise at his sudden arrival.

“When did you get here?”

“I heard you shout.” He answered with a shrug. “You can find all kinds of interesting things in floating barrels. I once found one filled with a rare kind of gunpowder.”

“... That’s it?”

“Uh? Oh, no, of course, I then used the powder to fire a special weapon, strong enough to turn a mountain into-”

“Yeah, yeah, alright. So, you want to see what’s in it?”

“Why not?”
“Maybe there’s meat in it!”
“Or booze.”

“Where the fuck did you all come from?” Sanji shouted as Luffy and Zoro appeared right next to him.

“Sanji, a barrel. A floating barrel! That’s a mystery, that’s the start of an adventure! I met Coby because I was in a barrel.”

“I just heard that last sentence and I don’t want to know.” Drake chuckled as he walked out of the man’s bedroom.

“He had the shittiest boat I’ve ever seen.” Zoro said fondly. “And still somehow convinced me to join. I’m not surprised he made an impression on Coby even when sailing in a barrel. For whatever definition of sailing.”

“The rowboat I stole from Buggy somehow was bigger than yours.” Remembered Nami. “We can make a detour to see what all the fuss is about.” She knew her crewmates well, and anything vaguely interesting was worth investigating.

“Yay! Everyone, head for the barrel, captain’s order,” Luffy shouted.

“Aye aye.” They responded with various degrees of motivation, with Usopp going to the helm and changing the direction of the Sunny while the others stayed standing around or sat on the lawn next to Chopper.

“Oh, that’s an offering.” Said Drake as the barrel was hefted up onto the deck.

“A what?”

“You’ve never seen one before?” He asked, but received only blank looks except for Robin, and Sanji who was frowning in thought.

“Pirates, mainly before the golden age of piracy, used to do offerings to the gods. They filled floating containers, generally barrels, with food and beverage in a plea for good luck on their travel.” Robin explained.

“It’s still done often in the North Blue,” Drake added. “We tend to be a religious bunch and we have the harshest climate of all the Blues, so multiple rituals were created to beg for good weather while traveling.”

“I’d love to see the other Blues one day… The East was so calm, and the Grand Line is so unpredictable, I’d love to see other types of climates.” Nami commented. Something to think about once they had finished exploring the Grand Line.

“Well, there’s a lot of snow in the North.” Drake deadpanned, Sanji tilting his head to hide his slight smile behind his hair. ‘A lot of snow’ didn’t even begin to cover it. “We can get really unpredictable climate compared to the other Blues. There’s a volcanic belt that starts in the New World, goes under the Calm Belt, and ends in the North Blue, so we’re sometimes subjected to the New World’s capricious weather.”

“We’ll do a tour of the Blues after we find the One Piece.” Luffy decided. “But for now, we’re going to open that barrel! I wonder what kind of food can be offered to a god…” He swallowed the drool that started to pool at the corner of his mouth.

“That’s easy.” Said Franky, producing a hammer from somewhere and quickly removing the chains keeping it closed, before removing the lid. He had barely touched it when it exploded, making him flinch back as he protected his head instinctively. The other members of the crew had all tensed up as a flare shot up into the sky, exploding above the Sunny and bathing the world in red light for a few seconds.

“Is that… Is that normal?” Usopp asked, though his tone made it clear he wasn’t expecting a positive answer.

“No it isn’t,” Drake answered, eyes narrowed as the sky faded back to blue. “That looks more like a trap than an offering.”

“And the barrel was empty except for that flare,” Franky added, holding it upside down to show nothing was dropping out of it.

“Which exploded high enough to reveal our position to anyone in a hundred miles.” Nami continued, snapping her head left and right before looking at the Log Pose on her wrist. “We’re still far away from the island we’re locked into, and I don’t see any indicator that we’re close to another island we could land at.”

“We’re not running away.” Luffy protested. “If someone tries to attack us, we’ll kick their ass.”

“Well, right now, yes we’re running away.” Shot back Nami. “Because if we don’t we’re going to get caught right in the middle of a Knock Up stream, and this time there won’t be a conveniently placed cloud to prevent our demise. We need to go to our three o'clock, everyone starts rowing!” She ordered.

“There’s no need.” Said Franky, walking toward the helm and taking over from Usopp. “The Sunny is not merely a ship that uses the wind and currents. Should the need arise…” He shifted the indicator on the helm until it showed the number zero. “The Sunny can be a paddle ship.” With another press of a button, the Sunny shot forward faster than it would have done had even the monster trio paddled. “It runs on Cola, so we can do this indefinitely, but for a quick escape...”

With ‘oooh’ of wonders from part of the crew, the Straw Hats watched as they narrowly avoided getting dragged into the maelstrom that appeared out of nowhere and which would transform into a Knock Up stream.

“That’s a really good ship,” Nami murmured in wonder. The Merry had done the best she could, but even with her as a navigator she wasn’t sure they would have been fast enough to avoid the sudden phenomenon.

“Yeah, I can’t help but feel safe when I’m on it.” Said Usopp, patting the railing with a sad smile. He always felt down when thinking about Merry, but Sunny was such a worthy successor to her that it never lasted for long. “Even when in the middle of such a thick fog I don’t feel afraid.”

“...”

“Why are we surrounded by fog??” Screamed Nami.

“You’re the navigator, you tell us!” Shouted back Usopp.

“Not afraid, uh.” Zoro snorted.

“No no no…” Freaked out Nami. “We’ve gotten off course and I didn’t even notice… And there’s only one place with unnatural fog like that.”

“The Florian Triangle,” Robin said helpfully.

“Weren’t we supposed to avoid it?” Freaked Usopp.

“And now we’re trapped in Moria’s hunting ground,” Drake added in a solemn voice.

“With that flare earlier, they’re even going to be expecting us,” Sanji added.

“Right, I haven’t thought about that.” Drake sighed. He looked around at the swirling gray that surrounded them. “That’s not good.”

“Is Moria that strong?” Franky, who hadn’t been here for the conversation about the Florian Triangle, asked.

“No, it’s… It’s this place.” Answered Chopper in a small voice, eyes wide open in fear as he clutched Zoro’s leg. “There’s something wrong with it.”

“As Nami said, unnatural,” Drake added, his fingers drumming a nervous rhythm on the hilt of his axe. “It’s as if the fog itself is a predator that’s hunting us.”

“Well, that’s stupid. Predators don’t hunt me, I hunt predators.” Said Luffy with a shrug.

“If you say so.” Drake didn’t relax despite Luffy’s uncaring attitude.

The next few minutes were tense. Even if only Drake and Chopper Zoan’s instincts were reacting strongly to the situation, it was enough to make the whole crew feel uneasy. The environment itself wasn’t helping any, ramping up their anxiousness. Being unable to see in the distance and losing all markers that would help Nami navigate meant they were trapped in the fog, with only the Log Pose to guide them and the oppressing feeling that crept on them.

“I can’t even smell anything.” Chopper complained, nose twitching as he inhaled deeply. There was only the wet scent of the fog coming from beyond Sunny.

“There’s no need for smell,” Sanji answered, voice tight. “You can see we have company.”

They turned around to see a large ship appearing out of the fog as if out of nowhere. At least twice as large as the Sunny, it towered over them from the short distance that separated them.

Its battered hull was covered in shellfish, creaking and groaning as it pained to advance in the water, weighted down by its dead passengers. The tattered sails that failed to catch the meager winds that swept through the fog were fully deployed, allowing the crew to see a large skull painted over them.

“Yo ho ho ho…” The chilling sound echoed in the emptiness, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

“It’s…”

“Yo ho ho hoo…”

“IT’S A GHOST SHIP!!!”

“Ghost?” Luffy’s head jerked up at the unknown voice. It was coming from the large galleon, which had continued sailing while they were freaking out and was now right alongside them. “I hope not,” it continued, “I hate ghosts.”

“I’ve died and this is the hell I deserve for all the lies I’ve told.” Said Usopp, teeth chattering against each other as he barely clung to consciousness and resisted the urge to faint.

“I’m sorry Bellmer, I never should have stolen all those wallets when leaving Cocoyashi.”

“This is what I deserve for having served overcooked food to that beautiful redhead in the dark blue dress when I was eleven.”

The grim reaper, for what else could it be, suddenly disappear from where it had been leaning over the railing of the ship. A nightmarish vision of death and bones, dark, empty eyes that seemed to look right into your soul but held the mysteries of life and death within…The skeletal face that had been visible through the fog couldn’t belong to anything native to this world.

“I should have listened to that blond rookie when he said the gods of death could roam the earth through stolen vessels,” Drake said faintly, unable to tear his eyes from the now empty space.

“If you’re done freaking out,” Zoro said, voice betraying that he wasn’t as relaxed as he tried to make it seem. “Chopper fainted.”

“That…” Luffy trailed off, voice strange as Robin, Franky and Usopp knelt down on the lawn, trying to remove Chopper's death grip from Zoro’s boot. Sanji watched them for a few moments and seeing that even Robin’s gentle touch wasn’t enough to separate him decided to go create something in the kitchen that would rouse him. If he used that time to get over his own freakout, nobody had to know.

“That was…” Luffy tried once again.

“Luffy? Are you alright?” Drake asked, looking at him with concern.

“THAT WAS SO COOL!” The loudness of the shout made him jerk back in shock, and horror appeared on his face as he noticed Luffy’s sparkling gaze. “That was such a cool mystery thing!” Luffy continued shouting. “I want to go there! I wanna I wanna I wanna!!”

“The two boats are rafted together.” Said Franky with a thumbs up, the only indication that he had moved from his place the couple of nails he was finishing putting away in a hidden compartment.

“Thanks Franky!” With that, Luffy grabbed the only two people that were still available and not busy with Chopper.

Drake and Nami.

“No no no no noooo.” Started to protest Nami, voice dying in her throat when Luffy turned his one hundred volt smile on her.

“Luffy we don’t have to explore, we could just…” Sad Drake, before remembering who he was talking to. “We could just get away from here and never come back?” He finished, voice lifting at the end and transforming it into a question.

“Yes, listen to Drake, he’s the most sensible of us all.” Added Nami, grabbing onto the first hint of support she got.

“But Nami, adventure.” Whined Luffy, before ignoring them and dragging them toward the bow of the ship, not slowing down despite Drake trying to stop him or at least get released.

“If I die right now I leave everything I own to my future reincarnation.”

“If I die I will allow you to go to a Marine base and cash in my bounty.”

“That’s- oh, but that’s a really good idea… With a little makeup and a wig so they don’t recognize me, we could pull up this con a few times before the Marines start to get wise.”

“No selling our crewmates for money, Nami.” Luffy admonished, making her wince. Both at the lost opportunity and at the way Luffy had phrased it. She hadn’t meant it that way.

“We’d get them back?” She offered weakly, but fell quiet when Luffy actually took the time to stop climbing the ringing to face her with a little unhappy crease between his eyebrows.

The rest of the climb happened in silence, made less awkward once Drake squeezed Nami’s shoulder in support and she shot him an apologetic smile.

“Time to face the music.” He muttered as Luffy reached the top and vaulted over the railing.

“Yohohoho, I wasn’t expecting you to try to meet me!” Said the…

The skeleton. There was no other word to describe the being in front of them. Despite its afro and its clothes, there was no hiding that the creature was a skeleton, without any flesh that would explain its ability to move and do the little bow it had greeted them with.

“Ah, it’s been so many years.” It continued, uncaring of Luffy’s awed look, Drake’s flat expression, and Nami clutching Drake’s arm so strongly her nails were leaving marks on his skin. Through his coat.

“Well, I almost forgot my manners! May I offer you a cup of tea?”

“Tea.” Repeated Drake in disbelief.

“Yes, tea.” Agreed the skeleton, lifting its own chipped mug. “It might not be what you’re used to, however. Only mold-made tea is available to me. I suffer from a lack of diversity on this ship, yohohoho.”

“That’s kinda sad,” Nami whispered behind him, making Drake nod in agreement. With its outdated clothes, its friendly demeanor, and the now fog-less view between them, the sight of a moving skeleton was far less frightening than it had been at first. And if you ignored the weirdness of the situation and the happy tone it was using, seeing someone having to resort to creating tea from mold because they had no other choice was rather saddening.

“Was that the dulcet tones of a lady I just heard?”

“Oh no.”

“But what a beauty you are! May I be so bold as to ask to see your panties, please?”

Somehow, even though Drake would have thought it impossible, Nami’s hand managed to clench up even more on his biceps, before it relaxed as she let go of his arm.

“The fog, I can deal with.” She started as she took a first step forward, then another. “I can learn to cope with a scary skeleton. But a pervert, talking skeleton?” Her leg raised impossibly high before she brought it down on its skull, striking so hard he ended up buried in the wood and somehow got a goose bump on his nonexistent skin. “Who do you think you are?!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. “I wouldn’t accept this comment from Sanji and I’m certainly not going to accept it from you!”

“Sorry, sorry… Yohohoho…” the laugh was weak even if it triggered a real laugh from Luffy, as usual happy to see his crew mates take care of themselves. “It hurts, even though I have no nerves! Yohohoho, skull joke!”

Luffy about fell laughing, even as Nami sighed in despair at meeting yet another weirdo.

“Speaking of skulls… How can you move, and talk, if you’re a skeleton?”

“Oh, the answer is easy: I ate a Devil Fruit!”

“I should have seen this coming.” Muttered Drake.

“Wow, a Devil Fruit!” Shouted Luffy, impressed, as if his half of his crew weren’t Devil Fruit users, himself included. “That’s so weird. Can you poop?”

“What the-”

“Yes, I can.”

“I can’t help but feel glad he hasn’t asked me that question,” Drake said as he snatched Nami by the middle before she could attack Luffy in rage.

“Wanna join my crew?”

“He didn’t even ask you this one,” Nami commented.

“Eh, he’ll get more forceful once he gets a refusa-”

“Of course!” Brook nodded his head enthusiastically.

“Cool! You should go meet everyone.” Neither Nami nor Drake had the time to react before Luffy had jumped above board, the skeleton and…Apparently new crew member following in his wake.

“I don’t know why I expected anything different,” Nami said with a sigh. “He never asks before doing anything.”

“It’s not like we would have said no,” Drake answered, making his way toward the railing. “Or, well, not for long. A skeleton isn’t the most controversial person he wanted, and look at where we are today.”

“Right.” Nami let out a little laugh. “He can’t be any more trouble than you and Robin have been.”

Drake smiled as well, glad to see they felt they could joke freely about what had happened.

~~One Piece~~

Luffy’s grin was just a tad brighter than usual. The skeleton standing right next to him, somehow, looked like he was grinning as well, despite not having a mouth to grin with.

Drake and Nami, in contrast, looked sheepish once they landed back on Sunny’s deck, and they bowed their head under the combined glare of everyone else on the crew.

“Weren’t you guys supposed to stop him from doing things like that?” Accused Zoro.

“We have no excuses,” Nami answered.

“We didn’t even have the time to react when he sprung it on us.” Added Drake.

“So… Who’s that?” Asked Sanji as he threw an uneasy glance toward Luffy.

“Oh, right. Who’re you?” Asked Luffy, raising his head to look at the almost twice as tall man next to him.

The collective sound of everyone except Robin face-planting on the deck was extremely loud in the silence, as well as their groans of despair. It at least had the advantage of breaking through Usopp’s freak-out and Chopper's denial of the situation.

(Chopper hadn’t taken well to being woken up and still seeing the other ship)

“You didn’t even know his name before asking him to join the crew?” Zoro shouted in outrage, before shooting a betrayed look at Robin as she let out an amused chuckle.

“Yohohoho, that’s twice I have forgotten to be polite. My name is Brook, Dead Bones Brook! I am a Reviving Human.”

“Devil Fruit, right. I should have expected it.” Sanji said, echoing Drake’s words.

“Revive… So you came back from the dead?” Chopper asked, eyes wide as he momentarily forgot his fear in the face of a medical curiosity.

“Indeed. I died, and my fruit allowed my soul to keep on living. Sadly, it took me a long time to find my body in this fog, and it had already decomposed when I found it again. Which is why I look like that!”

“That’s unfortunate,” Drake said.

“In those conditions, for his body to have decomposed to the point there are only bones left… It must have taken months.” Robin added when she reached them, having walked around to stand next to him and Nami.

“So, you’re still alive but you’re only made of bones… Does that mean you’re not able to eat?” Sanji asked.

“Oh no, of course I’m still able to eat and drink if I want to. Food isn’t just something physical, it can be felt in the soul. And if there is one thing I have other than bones it’s my soul. Besides, I would have gone mad without tea to rely on. Sadly, ah… I haven’t had any food available to me since shortly before my death.”

“And… How long ago was that?” Asked Nami, already dreading the answer as she watched Sanji’s expression close off.

“Why, I celebrated the fiftieth years anniversary of my death just a week ago.”

Sanji’s jaw clenched shut so harshly he bit right through his cigarette. “Right. We’re doing an early dinner.”

No one dared ask if he was sure.

“Any allergy I should be aware of? Any request? We have almost full stock, so I’ll be able to do almost anything.”

“Oh, I would like to request curry, if it’s not too much trouble. It is my favorite food.”

Chapter Text

Despite it being earlier than their usual dining time, the whole crew was eagerly waiting in the Sunny’s dining room for Sanji to finish cooking. While they were still weirded out by Brook’s presence, especially his off-putting appearance, they did their best to power through the awkwardness.

“Brook,” Robin said, grabbing his attention and that of everyone in the room. “You mentioned having been dead for fifty years. How old does that make you?”

“I’m 88.”

“I noticed that the galleon you were on was from that time period. Was it yours when you were still alive?”

“Ah, it belonged to my crew, yes.” Brook answered. “The Rumbar Pirates. We were attacked, and our rudder broke…” Somehow, sadness splayed across Brook’s face. “I’m the last remaining member of my crew, now.”

“You have us all now.” Said Luffy. His face was soft as he looked at Brook, understanding shining in his eyes. “You’re not alone.”

The choked sound Brook let out was heartbreaking, and they were all glad for Sanji’s interrupting by bringing out the food, letting Brook literally hide behind a pile of plates as he composed himself.

The Straw Hats happily dug in their food, and the ambiance quickly lost its seriousness as within seconds it devolved into a contained fight, all trying with varying success to protect their plate from Luffy.

Brook grabbed his fork and dipped some rice into the curry sauce, speared a morsel of chicken and brought it to his mouth. Sanji stilled as he watched his teeth close over the food, anxiously waiting for his judgment. He had had difficult clients over his years at the Baratie, people with allergies, children who disliked everything he put in front of them, prickly nobles who had no other choice but to stop at the restaurant if they wanted to eat and who treated everything with disdain from the food to the cooks. While his crew wasn’t hard to feed, he still put his all into his cooking and was rewarded by their frequent compliments and their high enthusiasm for each and every meal he prepared.

All this experience hadn’t prepared him for cooking the first meal someone had in fifty years. He still could remember the taste of the first bite of food after having been trapped all those weeks on an empty rock with Zeff, and even the bland hospital meal had been overwhelming.

“Yohohoho! That’s…” Brook’s eyes filled with tears as he started to fill his mouth once again, quickly devouring a quarter of his plate. “That’s the best meal I’ve ever eaten.” He choked out through his mouthful.

“I’m glad.” Sanji smiled around his cigarette. “There’s a full pot protected from those gluttons just for you, so eat as much as you want.” He didn’t think he’d have to worry about refeeding syndrome since Brook literally didn’t have kidneys or intestines, and Chopper must have thought the same since he wasn’t reacting to Brook stuffing his face.

“You said you were trapped here because of a faulty rudder, right?” Asked Nami as the meal slowed down. “Do you have an idea of the direction we need to take to get out of the Florian Triangle? Whether you join the crew or not-” she glared slightly at Luffy, who ignored her in favor of licking the sauce off of Drake’s plate “-we all want to get out of here, and we’ll be giving you a lift in any case.”

“Ah- ah. It’s… Almost funny, Yohohoho…” Brook trailed off, and the off-tone laugh was enough to make the most observant crewmates tense up in preparation for what was coming. “But I can’t leave.”

“Why not?” Asked Usopp, caution clear in his voice.

“Skin isn’t the only thing I’m missing.” Seeing the confused nod he was getting, he decided to explain a little more. “I said I have been trapped here for fifty years, and that was true. But five years ago, despite the broken rudder that forced me to drift at the mercy of the currents, I reached land.”

“Land?” Usopp and Luffy echoed.

“Don’t tell me…” Said Nami, eyes narrowing as she put the pieces together.

“At first, I thought I was saved…” Brook suddenly shot forward, making more than one person jerk back in surprise. “But instead I reached hell. There was no salvation waiting for me there, only more pain and despair.” His voice took in a haunted tone. “There I was attacked, and something was stolen from me.”

Sanji took two steps to the side so that the table was no longer between him and Brook and glanced at the ground under his chair.

“Your shadow.” He completed.

“Yes, my shadow.” Brook nodded. “My shadow was stolen from me. One moment I was fighting, the next I woke up back on my ship, alone once more and missing my shadow. It might not seem important at first, but without my shadow… I no longer appear in mirrors, but more importantly… I no longer can be in the sun. Because, you see, even the slightest sunray can kill me in a burst of flame.”

“That’s why you can’t leave the Triangle.” Nami understood. “The fog here is so thick it’s creating an eternal night over the whole area. The sun can’t pierce through.”

“If we get our shadow back you’ll be free to leave then?” Asked Luffy.

There was one thing to be said about the Straw Hats, and it was that they knew their captain, even Franky who hadn’t spent long with them—thought the way he had met them meant he was very aware of how he worked. None of them were surprised nor did they protest Luffy’s leading question.

“We’re really going to go after another Shichibukai, uh…” Nami said in despair.

“A… Shichibukai?” Repeated Brook.

“Uh, a pirate that fights for-”

“I know what a Shichibukai is, they already existed in my time, though they never lasted long before they got killed by other pirates. It was quite a cutthroat world…” He mused, before shaking his head and refocusing. “But, what I want to know is, why do you think that the pirate that attacked me was one?”

There wasn’t quite suspicion yet in Brook’s voice, but his tone had lost some of its friendliness as he started to doubt how they knew who had attacked him.

“The Florian Triangle is quite famous on the Grand Line.” Drake took over the conversation. “What is less known is that it’s the Shichibukai Gecko Moria’s hunting ground. While it isn’t information commonly shared, the Shichibukai are nowadays one of the great powers of this world, and a lot of people like to stay informed of where they are and what they are doing.”

Brook nodded in understanding, before focusing on the other part of Luffy’s statement. “I can’t ask you to go against this Gecko Moria, not after we’ve only known each other for such a short time. I don’t even remember meeting him, but I know he is far too dangerous.”

“We’ll get to know you better once we’ve defeated him and got your shadow back,” Luffy said as if it was obvious. “We can’t have you trapped here now that you’re part of the crew.”

“Truly, I can-” Brook stopped talking mid-word, eyes sockets widening in fear as he stared above the Straw Hats' heads.

They looked up as well, and more than one person scrambled back, falling off the bench they were sitting on in their haste to get away.

“What-”
“It’s-”
“A gh- it’s a gh-”

“A GHOST!” Brook and Usopp shrieked at the top of their lungs.

Floating above their head was something that could only be described as a ghost. White and transparent, its body passing through the ceiling, the smiling being that looked at them would have had its place in a children's horror book had such a thing existed.

Mouth twisted in a wide smile, the ghost’s empty eyes swept over the room, staying just a moment longer on Brook.

Drake focused his Haki, and felt exactly… Nothing.

“What is that?” Squeaked Nami from her position hiding behind Franky, who had been the closest.

“I have no idea…” Answered Sanji, staring intently at the ghost.

“I can’t feel anything.” Added Drake.

The ghost let out a high-pitched laugh before disappearing just as suddenly as it had appeared.

“It really is a ghost.” Said Brook, voice returning now that it had disappeared and his fear with it. “I met one like that on Thriller Bark. It means we must be close.”

“Thriller Bark?” Asked Robin.

“It’s the name of the ship—Moria was it?—is using to sail through the Florian Triangle. Thought ship is a bit of a misnomer. It should more be described as a sailing island.”

“What can you tell us about it?” Drake asked.

“Hey, no!” Immediately protested Luffy. “I want to go explore!”

“You really don’t.” Said Brook. “I thank you for the kindness you have shown me today, but this is a problem that I have to fix on my own. Please, try to leave this place as quickly as you can.”

Without any more words and without giving them an opportunity to protest, he ran out of the room. After a second of surprise at his abrupt demeanor, the Straw Hats followed, Luffy at their head, in time to see him jump off Sunny’s head.

“No!” Luffy and Chopper shouted simultaneously, Sanji and Zoro reacting in time and grabbing them before they could try to jump off as well. Sanji started to loosen his tie as Nami took hold of Luffy’s arm, before freezing in shock when he looked toward the sea.

“Ah… guys?”

“What is- wow.” Drake let out a small laugh in surprise at the sight. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Brook was actually running on water. Not swimming, not using Geppo or any other kind of power, no. He was simply running, his legs blurring out of sight as he advanced toward a goal only he knew.

“That’s so cool.” Luffy breathed out.

“Right. Set cap for the mystery island populated by ghosts and a dangerous Shichibukai, I guess?” Nami asked with a hint of despair, well used to her captain’s antics and knowing better than to suggest any other course of action.

A loud, echoing sound of metal hitting metal answered her.

“Is that… A normal sound?” Asked Usopp worriedly.

“No, it’s not. And it’s not coming from the Sunny either, but rather-” Franky turned his head to point toward the back of the ship when the Sunny suddenly lurched forward before stopping just as abruptly, and vibration started to travel to the hull and into the grass under their feet.

“I know that feeling.” Warned Robin as she jogged toward the railing. “Nami, remember-”

“Back on Skypiea, yes! Something just grabbed Sunny.”

“It’s alright, they shouldn’t be able to dama-woah!” Franky was cut mid-word as Sunny started to move again, this time without stopping.

“What’s happening?” Asked Chopper worriedly.

“That’s the trap closing in on us.” Explained Robin. “They knew where we were because of the flare, and now they’re ensuring that we have no chance of running away.”

“Good.” Said Luffy, punching his right fist into the palm of his left hand and nodding at Zoro, who had clicked Wano’s hilt on her sheath and looked just as eager to get into a fight.

Whatever was dragging them through the water kept on a regular rhythm, and soon they were left waiting, more or less anxiously, to reach where they were getting taken.

The fog started to clear out after a couple of minutes, which Usopp was the first to notice.

“Guys, there’s something there.” He called out. “And it’s…” His head tilted up, and up, and further up to try to see the end of the shape. “Really tall.” He finished lamely when he still couldn’t see its end after a few seconds.

“Is that Thriller Bark?” Asked Luffy.

“It’s supposed to be a sailing island…” Nami trailed off and turned toward Franky.

“It’s theoretically possible. I’ve never seen it done before, but I know it’s one of the solutions Iceburg envisaged for Water Seven, to protect it from the Aqua Laguna. That thing, in front of us… It certainly is large enough to be an island.”

Despite having cleared some, the fog was still thick enough that they couldn’t do more than discern the vague shape of the island on ground level.

“I wanna go beat up Moria, and I want to find Brook again… And I wanna explore!”

“We don’t.” Usopp and Chopper said as they clung to each other.

“Luffy, there’s a Shichibukai on this island.” Reminded him Nami. “You can’t just go there casually—and he’s not listening to me. Why isn’t he ever listening to me?” She despaired as Sanji handed him a bag and detailed the meals inside.

“Yeah, I’m staying away from this island as much as possible.” Decided Usopp.

“Would you rather stay on Sunny?” Asked Drake, which brought after a second of reflection violent denials from him, with Chopper echoing them a second later.

The ship jerked for a third time, and this time they were able to see what caused it.

“Is that a…spider… web…” Sanji trailed off as the sheer size of the web registered, and what it implied about the side of the spider that had created it.

“The spider that did it must have been-”

“Ah, Robin-chan, light of everyone’s life, kindly don’t follow that line of thought.”

“So now we’re, what, trapped here in the middle of nothing?” Asked Zoro, looking toward the island that was still some distance away.

“No, the current is slowly bringing us closer. But it’ll take… Around half an hour to get there.” Nami determined.

“Oh…”

“Bro, don’t be too disappointed.” Said Franky. “I’ve shown you the paddles, but Sunny has far more surprises for you.”

“Really?”

“The paddles were part of Sunny’s Soldier Dock System, a system entirely designed by me to provide him with its own personal soldiers. While the paddles are an evasive measure, the other soldiers will give us mobility and allow Sunny to assist us even when he’s not physically here. Let me present…” he pressed a button on the helm and started to roll his arms together while a mechanical sound filled the air, “the SUUPEER…” he posed with his arms over his head as the second channel door opened and a small boat exited it, “Mini Merry two!”

Usopp, Luffy and Chopper’s eyes literally had stars in them, and even the less reactive members of the crew were watching with awe as the small boat happily bobbed up and down in the water, its likeness to Merry evident.

“She’s so cute.” Said Nami.

“She can hold up to four people. I designed her for grocery runs, that’s why she can comfortably hold two people at the front and luggage in the backseat, but she is perfect for exploration. I’m sure she’ll soon get a spirit just as adventurous as her predecessor.”

“Can I take her for a trip? Please please please? Look at that design, she must be lovely to manoeuver.” Nami was slowly getting stars in her own eyes.

“Sure sis, that’s what she’s here for.” Said Franky.

“I’m coming with you.” Declared Usopp.

“Luffy has his food so I’m free to go as well… I’m rather interested in seeing her work.” Said Sanji, since he was the one responsible for buying most of their groceries.

“As soon as you come back I’m the next one to take the trip, alright?” Demanded Chopper.

“Hey, no, me too!” Shouted Luffy.

“Sure, on the next ride.” Agreed Nami as she took the controls in hand.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take long for the Mini Merry to disappear into the fog. Drake kept track of them for a moment but gave up when they reached the end of his range. Sanji was with them, and Nami and Usopp were capable of taking care of themselves. While he was worried about them encountering Moria, he was aware that his fears were mostly unfounded. Nobody would have expected them to be able to reach the island so quickly given that their ship has been immobilized, and he didn’t think Moria himself would be the one to move each time a pirate entered his domain. He was more likely to send some subordinates first, and those the three explorers could take care of.

Furthermore, they shouldn’t even set foot on the island; even if the fog made navigation almost impossible, Nami would manage to take them back to the Sunny without trouble.

~~One Piece~~

“That’s the second time you’ve brought us to the exact place we’re trying to avoid.” Said Usopp.

“I knooooow,” Nami wailed as she hid her face behind her hands.

“Don’t be mean,” Sanji said half-heartedly. “Honestly, Nami-san, are you alright?” She had been able to guide them and predict the behavior of the weather while half-dead after Little Garden, so to see her fail two times in a row was more than worrying.

“I’m-” She looked at him, then at Usopp, then at the decor around them. The Mini Merry had fallen into a trench, and while it didn’t look damaged it was useless while they were trapped on land. “Honestly? There’s something weird about this place, and I—I don’t know. It’s messing with me. We weren’t near the island, but suddenly it was right here.” She turned a worried gaze toward him. “Can you feel anything?”

He concentrated for a second, before shaking his head. “Sorry.” The island wasn’t even that creepy if you ignored the skeletons they had landed on, and he couldn’t feel anything wrong nearby.

“I’m about as terrified as usual.” Added Usopp.

“Alright,” Nami said with a sigh before throwing another nervous look around. “Should we stay here and wait for the others?”

“We can go explore.” Proposed Sanji. “You don’t have to worry, I’ll protect you.”

“We’re as likely to encounter an enemy anywhere, so why not.” Agreed Usopp.

Nami scowled in disgust when they started walking and one of the bones she was standing on snapped in half under her feet. “That place is just disgusting.”

“I’m no Robin, but I know that those bones are too clean for them to be from people who died here,” Sanji said as he crouched and poked at a skull. Sure, there was some grime on it, but there weren’t any remnants of flesh, neither was there on the other bones. It could be explained by the bones being particularly old—Sanji wasn’t capable of deducting their age or anything about the person who had died, so it could have been a reasonable explanation—but for every bone in the area, and that many? With no rats or flies, nor any odor of decomposition? No, someone or something had clearly moved the bones there.

“This reeks of a setup.” Said Usopp as they climbed upstairs to get them out of the channel. “That’s something I’d do, put fake bones at the entrance of my base to dissuade people from entering.”

“But they’re the ones who trapped us here.” Sanji pointed out.

“Maybe they want people to stay on their ship.” Nami proposed, looking around as they followed a dirt path leading them further into the island.

“If Moria has ways to incapacitate multiple people at once, catching everyone together on their own ship would make it easy for him to capture pirates.”

“Right. Shichibukai.” Nami said with barely hidden disgust.

“Well, if it’s a trap, it’s not a good one,” Sanji said. “I can’t feel anyone close.”

“You couldn’t feel that ghost earlier.”

“Hmm. And… Well, there are a lot of animals around.” He frowned, unhappy that he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly he what feeling. The presences were too weak to come from people, but there was still something different about them. Also, he could feel them well within his range, but he couldn’t see anyone around. The fog was still very thick, but he could still see the first layers of trees surrounding the path, and nothing was moving.

“That’s normal for a forest.” Pointed out Usopp.

“What’s up with that anyway? Who puts a forest on a ship?”

“Nami, we literally have a lawn and trees on Sunny. If the guy wants a forest on his ship, we can’t judge him.”

“I still think it’s weird.”

“We should forget this is a ship and treat it like an island,” Sanji said, pointing with his thumb somewhere in the distance. “Because ships don’t normally have large mansions on them either.”

“Definitely feels like a trap,” Usopp muttered under his breath, just low enough for the two of them to hear.

“We’ve already walked that far,” Nami said with a shrug. “Let’s see what they have in store for us.” With Sanji here, they would be able to take on most people. Despite the uneasiness that refused to leave her, which she put to her paranoia and her bad experiences with Shichibukai—between Crocodile, and Jimbei being responsible for Arlong being in the East Blue—she felt confident that they would get out of whatever trap was waiting for them.

“Do you think there really are people buried here or is the whole graveyard just for intimidation factor?” Usopp wondered as they passed heavy iron gates and the path under their feet changed from dirt to gravel, the trees getting replaced by low gravestones.

“Definitely empty. Those graves are far too close to each other, there isn’t any place for a body in them.” Nami answered, and a heavy silence fell above the three of them at the reminder of why she knew this. They all had lost someone, had to see them buried.

Sanji was almost glad when their reminiscence was interrupted. Almost. If it had been by normal enemies, he might have been, but the situation had taken a turn for the weird so suddenly that he didn’t quite know what to think.

A horde of zombies suddenly appearing by crawling out of their tomb was a first.

It started with a groan. A human groan, which made them whirl around to face the direction the noise had come from. A hand was sticking out of the dirt, immobile. Usopp’s heart started to beat in his throat, the complete silence that had fallen over them after that lone sound starting to affect him. Then the hand moved, suddenly shooting out of the dirt until it was a whole arm, and a palm landed on the ground, pushing up until the rest of a body appeared.

“Eep.” A high-pitched sound of panic escaped him, and he took a step back, body shaking in fear.

“Stay close.” Ordered Sanji, hand grabbing his wrist and preventing him from backing up further. Other corpses were rising out of their graves and deep groans filled the air until about fifty zombies surrounded them. All in sync the undeads took a step forward, then another toward the small group of pirates. Some had their arms raised straight in front of them, as if ready to grab the humans, while others stumbled along, their arms limp at their sides.

“I hate this, I hate this,” Nami said hysterically, fumbling as she tried to grab the clima-tact from her belt.

“Don’t worry,” Sanji said in a reassuring tone, glaring at the still-advancing zombies. “They’ve already died once, and I’ll kill them a second time if they keep on advancing.” His tone hadn’t changed but the zombies still all froze at the threat. They traded looks with each other before one of the zombies at the front shrugged and put one foot forward.

When Sanji didn’t react immediately, the rest of the zombies decided to ignore all the signs of their impending doom—the sudden and unexpected temperature rise in the vicinity a glaring indicator—and all threw themselves forward with cries.

The first one to have moved met his end by getting kicked so hard Sanji’s foot pierced through his chest. Nami, who had snapped her clima-tact in place, used it as a staff and hit multiple zombies at once, most falling under the impact, the last in the line and smallest one getting his head blown away. She made a noise between horror and disgust, backing up once more and getting back to back with Sanji.

“Don’t worry, I got this!” Usopp proclaimed as the living dead approached his third of the terrain. “Zombies have one obvious weak point. Firebird Star!” The fire projectile flew forward, the phoenix spreading its wings and putting fire indiscriminately to everything it touched. Usopp having been the one to fire it, it only touched the zombies, ending its path against one particularly large zombie chest and exploding in a small fireball.

The fire obviously freaked out the zombies that hadn’t been touched, as they all backed up quickly, far too quickly compared to the slowness they had up until now displayed. They came to a standstill for a few seconds, the three Straw Hats surrounded by the corpses of almost half of their enemies, the other half huddled together further away on the path.

Then the zombie that had lost his head to Nami’s swipe rose back up to his feet. Nami and Usopp’s screams of fear were deafening, making him fall back down in shock, and Sanji cringed away, one hand coming up to clutch at his ear.

“Nami-san is so lovely when she explodes my ear drum.” He ignored the tinnitus he could now hear as more of the zombies they had defeated got back up until they were all standing. The one that had lost his head got it handed to him by another zombie, while the first one Sanji had defeated bent down to grab a couple of his ribs that had fallen to the floor.

“So… Fire obviously isn’t their weakness,” Usopp admitted with a tense little laugh when the half that had run away from them started to run again, this time toward them.

“And despite being really weak they’re not easy to kill,” Sanji added

“Hey, that’s not nice.” Muttered the zombie now trying to put back his ribs into his body.

“Yeah, we’re not that weak, you don’t have to diss us…” Scowled another one. Soon the air was filled with their complaints, and Sanji’s visible eye started to tick.

“And you dare criticize us but you look stupid.” Shouted one of the zombies in the back.

“Yeah, stupid!” Agreed one on Usopp’s side.

“Your hair looks stupid.” Said a blue-skinned one in front of Sanji.

“Your eyebrow looks stupid.” Added a zombie who had a wrench passing through his head.

“And that dress really doesn’t suit your hair color-” The zombie in front of Nami, who still hadn’t put his head back on his neck but was holding it under his arm, was the one who made that one comment too far. Before anyone could understand what had happened a huge flame had engulfed him, burning hot enough that there wasn’t anything remaining when Sanji stepped out of the inferno he had just created, both of his legs on fire as he stepped back toward his previous position, uncaring of the few strands of grass, who had been until now painstakingly growing in the gravel path, turning into ashes as he walked past.

“Anyone wants to make another comment about Nami-san?”

This time it was the zombies who eep-ed in fear.

“I thought so.” He continued when the silence stretched for a few seconds. “You better go back into your graves, or fire or no fire, none of you will ever walk again.”

The graveyard was empty in seconds.

“There isn’t any wrong with my dress,” Nami said after a moment. Sure, pink and orange generally didn’t go well together, but she had spent four hours in Water Seven raiding the shops to find outfits she liked. The form-fitting pink dress was longer than what she usually wore, reaching almost a quarter down her thighs, but the cloth was flexible enough that it didn’t hinder her movements. A fake dark brown leather belt was accentuating her hips, the same color as her knee-high boots.

“Of course, not Nami-san, you look just as marvelous as usual. Usopp’s the one who is a slob.”

“Oi! My clothes are practical unlike yours, mister let’s-wear-a-suit-in-all-situations.”

“Thank you Sanji-kun.” Nami ignored Usopp's pout at being cut off in his rant. “Now, let’s continue to walk. I hope nobody here is stupid enough to think of attacking us again-” at that some of the headstones that had moved slightly during their talk fell back into place “-but I’d rather not stand around.”

~~One Piece~~

The walk to the manor happened without any more interruption, and they reached it without encountering anyone—or anything—else.

It looked like any other gothic mansion, blending in with the general ambiance of the island. The only different thing about it was the large, and suspiciously high, tunnel that passed right through the middle where the entrance should have been. The fog was still too thick to allow them to see where it led to.

“Is anyone here?” Nami asked, voice raised to carry.

“Do you think it’s empty?” Asked Usopp.

“I hope not. If it’s uninhabited we’ll have to question the zombies, and I don’t think they know anything about what’s going on.” Answered Sanji.

“Question?”

“We’re going to face another Shichibukai, I don’t want to do this without any intel.”

“We’ve gotten stronger since last time, and Luffy is the one who is going to fight Moria…” Protested Nami, not pointing out that it was mostly useless to gather intel since Luffy was more likely than not to discard it—and then find a better way to defeat his opponent.

“Sure, but if he has some sort of organized structure like Crocodile, with some fighters stronger than the others, we need to know who everyone is.”

“Right.” Nami gulped nervously, remembering how she had almost ended up fighting Mr. 1. She had struggled enough in her own battle, he would have shredded her had she not been paired up with Zoro. “We were lucky to have Vivi know so much.” She said, a fond smile on her face as she thought of her. Despite her tendency to forget important information up until it was too late, she was part of the reason their fights had gone so well.

“The further we go, the more likely we are to encounter someone who knows something.” Usopp pointed out reluctantly. He didn’t like the idea of going further inland and away from the rest of the crew, but Sanji was correct in that they needed more information.

“We might also get face-to-face with Moria himself, and that’s not something I want to risk happening.”

“Hello?” Nami called out a second time, only hearing her own voice echoing a few times before silence fell on them once again. “Well, I don’t think-”

She cut off when Sanji suddenly grabbed her by the hips and whirled around, pushing Usopp away at the same time and getting him out of the way of the incoming projectile, which shattered harmlessly on the wall behind them. One of her hands grabbed Sanji’s suit jacket to stay upright, the other pointing her clima-tact in the direction the attack had come from.

“Come out, whoever you are!” The entrance was still seemingly empty, but the attack hadn’t come out of nowhere.

A door on the side of the tunnel opened with an ominous squeak.

“Fosfosfos…”

Nami and Sanji moved in sync so they could both see the newcomer, Sanji still holding onto her waist and ready to react at the first sign of a threat.

“Fosfosfos…” A tall man, not as tall as Drake and certainly not as muscled, came out of the door. His long legs, covered in leather pants, made for most of his height. They were just as thin as his arms, which were the only thin parts of his body. His torso was almost a perfect sphere and his neck virtually non-existent, his round head looking like it had just been stuck on top of his torso.

Nami lost a second to think about how Drake would look if he wore a fishnet top instead of his usual jacket, before refocusing on the—probable—threat in front of them. Usopp had turned to see him from the corner of his eye, but his attention was still mostly on the empty corner where the attack had come from.

“Hello, hello.” He greeted them, to which she answered with a tense smile, her clima-tact lowering when he didn’t make any move to attack.

“Hello.” She said back. “Do you live here?”

“Oh, yes, this modest mansion is mine. Let me introduce myself, I am the world-renowned doctor Hogback!”

“... Hello,” Usopp said after a moment when it became apparent he was expecting some kind of answer. Given his dejected face he had been hoping for a better reaction.

“We just got attacked while waiting here… Do you know if there is anyone else living here?”

“It’s just my servant, Cindry. CINDRY!” His voice became shrill as he raised it.

“Servant?” Repeated Sanji, definitely taking note of the female name.

A projector lit up a part of the tunnel that was plunged into darkness, highlighting an old well.

There were noises of a mechanism getting activated, a pulley getting pulled up, and slowly someone appeared.

Sanji’s grip on Nami loosened when he took stock of the person who had just joined them. Of the woman. The first thing he noticed about her was that she was beautiful, of course, but he couldn’t remember ever meeting a woman who wasn’t beautiful. The second thing he noticed was how depressed she looked.

A woman should never look unhappy—no. A woman should never be unhappy. Not in his presence, and not as long as he could do something to help them. But Cindry… There wasn’t any expression on her face. Her eyes were dead, and she looked like she had never known a day of happiness in her life.

The scars on her face barely registered as they didn’t deter any of her beauty in his opinion. They looked old, the black stitches clearly visible against her pale skin, and he felt distant rage at the idea of anyone attacking a lady and harming her so badly she needed stitches.

“Cindry! Did you attack my guests?” Barked Hogback.

She threw him a look of utter disdain, not that her face changed but Sanji could still tell, before answering in a monotone voice. “These men shouldn’t sully our doorstep.”

“MY doorstep, it’s mine!” Hogback cleared his throat after seeing the reaction the Straw Hats had to his explosive reaction, before continuing. “Hrng. I mean, of course they can, they are very welcome. Since they’re my guests. Aren’t they, Cindry.”

“Yes, they are.” She answered in her dead tone.

“Then don’t attack them! And when did you get a pile of plates anyway?”

Cindry didn’t even glance toward the pile she was holding in one hand. “Plates shouldn’t exist.” She said flatly, her eyes not quite looking at Hogback as she talked but somewhere between him and their group.

“I don’t have anything against plates’ existence, but a lovely lady like yourself certainly shouldn’t dirty her hands carrying them,” Sanji interjected.

Her gaze shifted slightly to look at him, for a moment, before glancing toward her hand.

“Oh.” There was an emotion in her tone, but it went by too quickly for Sanji to catch what it was. She blinked for the first time since she had appeared, before turning her hand upside down and letting the dozen of plates on it shatter against the ground.

It wasn’t what Sanji had meant—he was going to propose to carry them instead of having her do it—but he wasn’t going to complain since he could tell it had pleased her to do it.

Chapter Text

The ambiance in the dining hall was awkward. Usopp had known Nami for months now and had seen her at one of the lowest points in her life, so he could tell she was faking her smile and the ease at which she was talking to Hogback—or, more accurately, the ease with which she was making Hogback talk. The apparently famous doctor had an ego far greater than anything Usopp could fake, and it was easy to make him talk.

Nami had taken control of the discussion, with a few interjections from Sanji to guide the conversation along. The two of them had decided not to directly talk about Moria, and Usopp was following their lead. Hogback was acting ignorant of everything that was going on; when they had mentioned the zombies, he had told them that he was on Thriller Bark to study them as they were still a mystery to him.

Then he had started a tirade about how awesome it would be to discover the mystery of how to revive people, which hadn’t received the reception he had expected. Usopp might want to see his mother once again, as no doubt did Nami and who knew who Sanji had lost, but… He couldn’t help but think of the mismatched zombies from earlier, and he would never want something like that happening to someone he loved.

Sanji was barely keeping his composure each time Hogback talked to Cindry, only Nami’s hand gripping his arm tightly every time he looked like he would lose his temper helping him stay focused. It helped that Cindry was treating Hogback with disdain and her comments were far more acerbic than what Hogback threw at her.

After some time, which probably wasn’t that long but had seemed to take hours for Usopp, Nami started to make excuses on why they couldn’t stay any longer and needed to get back to their crew. Hogback was obviously reluctant to let them go; he wasn’t trying to physically keep them, but he kept talking about how they could spend some more time in the mansion, and how awful the island could be at night—as if they could make the distinction between night and day with the fog blocking every ray of natural light—and Cindry had made a wonderful peach dessert that could be served in bowls, didn’t they want to eat it?

Nami traded an exasperated look with Sanji when Cindry, somewhat reluctantly if her flatter-than-usual tone was to be believed, said that she had prepared a bath for Nami and it would relax her after such a hard day.

“Oh, if you went to that much trouble for me, I can’t refuse.” She said coyly, not missing Hogback’s sigh of relief.

“You two have to stay here,” Cindry said, turning toward Usopp and Sanji when they rose up to follow.

“Oh, no, we’re used to taking baths together… We sail on a small ship, you see.” Nami answered, no hint of her lying showing on her face.

Sanji let out a small noise at the thought but came back to himself under Nami’s glare before it could develop into a full-fledged fantasy.

“It isn’t appropriate-” Started to protest Hogback, but Nami cut him off before he could finish.

“And I need someone to help me do my manicure, and there’s no one better than Sanji. He’s a chef, you know, very skilled with his hands.”

Usopp’s hand jerked to pinch Sanji’s arm before he could start to swoon, staring blandly at Nami and wondering why she was doing that. He knew she was trying to ensure they wouldn’t get separated, but she could have tried another strategy. She knew full well how Sanji would react to even a hint of teasing from her and it was honestly a miracle that he hadn’t already broken character and prostrated himself at her feet.

It would have been better if she had implied he was the one who did her manicure—the thought cut off before it had time to develop when Sanji retaliated the pinch by stomping on his foot, not even his steel-toed shoes preventing him from feeling the strength that Sanji could put in his legs. It also served to remind him that Sanji wasn’t afraid to get rough with the man of the crew, and that had Nami even implied Usopp even put a hand on her, he wouldn’t have survived the night.

He wouldn’t complain that she had chosen to risk Sanji’s swooning and breaking character rather than Sanji murdering him.

Hogback spluttered, not able to find a counter quickly enough, and Nami linked her arms with both Sanji's and Usopp's and started to drag them forward and toward the corridor, forcing Cindry to react quickly and take the lead to prevent them from wandering around the mansion without surveillance.

~~One Piece~~

“Nami-san? Are you alright?” As soon as the door had closed and Cindry’s footstep fallen away, Nami disentangled her arms from theirs and leaned back against the wall, one of her hands coming up to hide her face from view while the other wrapped around her midriff. Sanji hovered over her, taking in her body language and how uncomfortable she looked, unsure about how welcome his touch would be. Now that they were on their own, she no longer tried to put up a front and allowed her body to betray how she was feeling.

“I…” She faltered, unable to put words to what she was feeling. “I don’t like this place.” She finished lamely. “I don’t want to be alone right now.” She had learned to trust her instincts, and she had rarely felt so uncomfortable before.

“Then we go back. The others must be close to reaching us now.” Sanji decided.

“We don’t need-”

“Nami-san.” Sanji cut her protestation off. “Nami.” He added with a softer tone. “We aren’t pressed for time. No one is in immediate danger, we don’t have to stay here. I respect you too much to ignore your instincts.”

Usopp nodded when Nami glanced at him, feeling guilty that despite her having expressed multiple times that she felt uneasy they had kept going. But, no, he reminded himself, Nami was more than capable of speaking her mind. Something about the meeting with Hogback had obviously worsened her bad feelings. “Nothing about this situation feels right.” He said after a moment.

“Right.” Nami let out a derisive scoff. “As if anyone would believe him when he said he didn’t know anything about the zombies.”

“Chances are that he’s working for Moria, and this is all an elaborate trap.” Sanji agreed. “I trust the others, but I’d feel better after having warned them about what we learned.” Not that it would do too much good, Luffy and Zoro would still rush blindly into the situation, but at least lovely Robin would know how to use the information.

“Do we just leave and tell them we’re going back to our crew?” Usopp asked, jerking his head toward the bathroom door and the rest of the building where Hogback and Cindry were waiting. “It’s not like they’ll expect us to stay here indefinitely.” He thought out loud.

“I’d rather they not know we’ve left until it’s too late,” Sanji admitted.

“You think they’d try to stop us?” Nami asked. By that she meant physically try; Hogback had tried to convince them to stay, but she wasn’t sure he would turn violent to keep them here. She wondered if Sanji had seen something in him that she had missed since he looked rather weak and his use of a servant for everything physical made her think he wouldn’t be much of a challenge in a fight.

“I’d rather not test it.” It wasn’t that Sanji was afraid of Hogback, first of all because he wasn’t afraid of much, but also because Hogback wasn’t the type of person who inspired fear. If it came down to a contest of who was the most full of themselves, then sure, he’d worry about Hogback winning, but in a real fight? No chance. However Hogback wasn’t the only occupant of the mansion, and he was far warier of Cindry. If anyone was a fighter it was her, and Sanji wouldn’t be able to raise a foot against her, nor would he allow Usopp to. This put them at a large disadvantage, with Nami as their only available fighter, and given how out of sorts she had seemed lately he didn’t want to risk her getting hurt.

He’d rather retreat.

“We’re close enough to the ground that we can easily get out without even needing to rappel down,” Usopp said, face stuck against the window, or at least as much as he could with his nose in the way, his hands bracketing his head to get a better view of the outside.

“Then let’s go,” Sanji said, turning toward Nami and holding his hands in her direction. “If I may give this lady a lift?” He said charmingly, and he was rewarded by a sincere and fond smile at his antics.

“You may.” She answered with a regal tilt of her head.

~~One Piece~~

“Think the others have reached the island too?” Zoro asked, leaning over the railing so he could observe the spider web that had trapped the Sunny. He wasn’t worrying about them—Sanji was, dare he admit it, somewhat decent at fighting, and Nami and Usopp were clever enough to avoid trouble, as well as capable of taking care of it if it found them.

But he knew how his crewmates had the ability to get lost even when taking the simplest path. Coupled with how the environment had the tendency to change when one wasn’t looking, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the three of them had no idea where they were.

“Nami said she’d be back,” Chopper said, half pouting at not having the chance of riding on the Mini Merry, half worried about them.

“Don’t worry about them bro,” Franky said reassuringly. He hadn’t known her for long but it wasn’t hard to see that Nami was as good as she portrayed herself. They all were. Even Usopp, despite his frequent exaggerations, had impressed him with his sniping skills.

“Yeah Chopper,” Luffy said, walking past them and stopping next to Zoro, bending to look at the island at their feet, his head falling forward just a little too much to be natural. Franky still found it somewhat disturbing when Luffy’s rubbery nature showed in those small ways. He was used to Devil Fruits—you couldn’t live on the Grand Line, especially not a hub such as Water 7, without encountering them frequently—but Luffy’s fruit affected his body in such small ways that he always got surprised when he did something other people weren’t capable of doing.

“We can’t waste time worrying,” Luffy continued, “we have an island to explore!”

“Adventure!” Cheered Chopper, throwing his hoofs in the air.

“I can’t wait to see what they’ll try to throw at us,” Zoro said, the corner of his mouth lifting in anticipation of the incoming fights that they were bound to face.

“Well, the Sunny’s not going anywhere now, and it’s been a long time since I’ve explored a new island...” With that, Franky vaulted over the railing, landing on a stony deck, quickly followed by Luffy, Zoro, and Chopper who didn’t want to be left behind.

“You’ll be alright there?” Franky asked, turning to face Robin who was watching them go with a smile, an extra arm waving them goodbye.

“We’ll be fine.” She reassured him.

Without looking for any more reassurance, Franky turned away and quickly caught up with the rest of the group who hadn’t waited for him.

In less than a minute, their footsteps and voices had faded and the fog had swallowed them entirely.

“Do you think they have noticed who they have left together?”

Robin smiled slightly at Drake’s comment. “I don’t think they did.”

Drake rested his arms on the railing and leaned on them, looking toward the island. He loved his crew, but sometimes they were so chaotic… And despite all the added space they had on Sunny compared to Merry, he never could find peace for long—the closest he had was by staying in the observation room since nobody dared disturb Nami while she was working on her maps, but he wasn’t truly tranquil there as he was always conscious of the navigator’s presence. She tended to look at him while thinking or when taking a pause from her drawing and note-taking, and feeling a gaze on him always made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, so even then he couldn’t quite get the absolute calm he had discovered on Little Garden, where he had been entirely alone most of the time.

“I’ve seen that bartender on Water Seven do that lemony drink you liked enough times I’m sure I could reproduce it, want some?”

Robin looked pleasantly surprised at his offer. “I’d love some, thank you.” With a cross of her arms, a row of hands appeared on the deck and inside the Sunny toward where the library was located, no doubt to pick up a book. “I love the atmosphere here. All those months in Alabasta turned me off the sun.”

Drake laughed, turning mid-stairs to look at her. “You’re starting to lose your tan, you’re almost paler than Nami now. And for the ambiance… It’s a little too gloomy for me.”

“Not enough goths? I know you’re the kind of person that likes leather.”

Drake pressed a hand against his face as he felt his cheeks flare.

“First of all, I’m a suit kind of guy.” You couldn't be a Marine for years and mingle with officers without developing an attraction to well-fitting suits. “Secondly, I like being left alone. Little Garden was the perfect vacation spot for me.”

“Really?” She looked surprised by his answer, and he had a feeling it was more toward the second part than the first.

“A vacation spot is somewhere you go for less than a couple of months at a time, and I liked Little Garden enough to want to spend a few weeks there again.” He explained.

“Yes, I can see how I’d be bored if I stayed here for too long… Where would you want to be, if you were to spend the rest of your life on the same island?”

It was far more personal than most conversations they had before, but Drake couldn’t find it in himself to refuse to answer. Enies Lobby had put forward most of Robin’s secrets, and Drake had been alongside her through it all, the experience far more intimate than it had been for the others Straw Hats. If he needed to do a little soul-searching to right the balance, he could do that much.

He gave the question the thought it deserved but found that he didn’t have an answer. None of the islands he had stayed at had impressed him enough he was ready to spend his life there. His mind stayed a little longer on the various Marine bases he had been stationed at—Marineford, G-1, and the small North Blue base he had spent his earliest years being the most notables one—but despite having spent some of his best years there, the good memories were now tainted by everything he had learned about the Marines since. It wasn’t like he could go back there anyway.

But if he couldn’t think of a specific place… “I wouldn’t care much about the climate, or where it’s located. As long as it’s filled with people who care about me and can kick my ass, I’d be happy.”

“You only have half of that here.” She pointed out.

“Well, Luffy can definitely defeat me in a fight, and the other two aren’t far behind, so I think I’m doing well.”

Chapter Text

Luffy looked around, trying to find a zombie still willing to fight. He pouted when none of them dared to move, too cowed by the beating they had just received, Zoro’s glower, and Franky’s narrowed eyes.

Thought maybe Luffy’s glee at finding an enemy that could keep fighting no matter how much damage it took, and Chopper poking them and asking how they were able to move despite being dead, wasn’t helping.

“Don’t bring out the scalpels, Chopper.” Zoro teased, seeing the zombies somehow get even more freaked out when the doctors grabbed one of the separated limbs and turned it around in his hoofs to look at it from all sides.

“Of course I wouldn’t!” Chopper immediately protested, turning to face Zoro and subjecting him to his big, innocent eyes. “I’d never operate on someone without their consent.” He declared. “That goes against everything I learned as a doctor.” Genuinely hurt by Zoro’s comment.

“Sorry, I was just teasing you. I didn’t mean anything by it.” He apologized, surprised at his vehement reaction. ‘Then again’, he thought, ‘I shouldn’t have been. Chopper had always been devoted to becoming the best doctor possible.’

“Plus, Chopper doesn’t need to do any operation to get his answers, uh?” Luffy added, cracking his knuckles while grinning in the zombies’ direction. They would answer Chopper’s questions if they knew what was better for them.

“Meep.”

“They’re rather lame.” Franky deadpanned when the zombies passed out from fear.

“Aww, I wanted to keep on fighting them...” Luffy pouted.

“Don’t worry Luffy-bro, we’ll find someone else to fight! Since we’re supposed to be in the middle of a Shichibukai territory. For whatever it’s worth.”

“You don’t think much of them?” Zoro asked, surprised. He didn’t remember Franky speaking out earlier, either in good or in bad, against Gecko Moria.

“Did you meet any of them?” Chopper added. He had only really heard about Crocodile, hadn’t even met him for more than a few seconds. If it wasn’t for what Drake had told them about Moria earlier in the day, he wouldn’t have known anything about the government-sanctioned pirate. Dracule Mihawk, who had been mentioned by Zoro a few times after Chopper had asked him why he trained so hard, had only been bought up because of his might as a swordsman, not because of his occupation.

“Surprisingly, no. I don’t think any of them ever came to Water 7… Or if they did, they didn’t stop at the Galley-La.” Iceburg would have warned him if it had been the case, they always kept each other updated when it came to the government’s movements. Marines coming for more than maintenance or to commission new warships, agents showing an interest in the company, pirates known for working for the government, had all been kept on their radar. “But it’s a major trading hub, so we heard a lot of rumors, even some coming from the New World.” Where half of the Shichibukai operated. “They’re disliked by everyone, Marines, pirates, civilians, it doesn’t matter. Nobody likes the thought of them existing.”

“But they’re still strong,” Luffy commented. Even Crocodile—Luffy knew that had the Logia been a little less arrogant during their first fight, he and Drake could have ended up dead. Zoro’s hand came up to absent-mindedly rub at his scar through his shirt, wondering how Hawkeye’s strength compared to the others. He might be the world’s greatest swordsman, but that didn’t make him the world’s strongest man. “Even if Drake sorta said Moria wasn’t...” Luffy continued.

“The Marines wouldn’t want them if they were weaklings, but honestly I think they’re overrated,” Franky said.

“We’ll see.” Was Zoro’s response. No matter what Drake had implied about Moria’s strength, until he could judge for himself he wasn’t going to underestimate him or his powers.

“Luffy! Everyone!” The shout made them turn toward further inland, where they could vaguely discern shapes moving through the fog. There hadn’t been any mistaking Nami’s voice.

“Hey guys!” Luffy happily greeted back, smiling when they became visible. They didn’t look injured, not that he truly had worried about them, well aware that they could take care of themselves. While they weren’t running toward them, they were still walking quickly, almost jogging, and he wondered why they were hurrying. Not that he needed to ask, they would tell him if it was important.

“We’re so glad to see you,” Usopp said, stumbling when Franky gave him a welcoming slap on the back.

“What happened about it being just a quick trip?” Taunted Zoro.

“You shut up!” Nami snapped, grabbing him by the ear before he could react and giving it a harsh tug.

“Yeah, you shut up!” Agreed Chopper, still vexed from earlier.

“Did you find anything cool?” Luffy asked, ignoring the familiar byplay. Ace had taught him that it was a sign of love to tease, so he liked when they bickered together.

Especially Zoro and Sanji; it was nice to know that two of his oldest, strongest crewmates were so close to each other.

“Define cool,” Nami said.

“I see you’ve already met the zombies,” Sanji added, seeing the undead but very immobile bodies at their feet. “We’ve met our share as well, they’re annoying.” He frowned, remembering how they had dared comment on Nami’s appearance. “There’s a mansion further back, and there’s something weird going on in there.”

“Weird how?”

Nami took over, turning to look at Franky who had asked the question. “I wouldn’t be able to explain it, but there’s something disturbing about the place. We only met two people there, a woman who was totally crazy, and the owner of the mansion, a doctor Hogback. He was-”

“Hogback?”

She glanced at Chopper, surprised by the outburst. “Yes, he introduced himself as Doctor Hogback, seemed quite proud of the fact too… Did you hear about him?” She would have thought him a fake doctor, he looked and acted nothing like the few doctors she knew—although most of them had been in the East Blue, and she could admit that between Crocus and Kureha, the few she had met since getting to the Grand Line had been far weirder.

“Did I hear about him? He’s- He’s just the smartest, incrediblest doctor of our time! He did unbelievable surgeries that every other doctor had deemed unfeasible, and he managed to save his patients every time! A hundred percent success rate, do you know how rare that is? He revolutionized the medical world as the first person to save someone from brain cancer without the aid of a Devil Fruit, he dared to attempt medical procedures that most wouldn’t even have dreamed about, he once-”

“Wow, that’s great!” Franky cut him off before Chopper could pass out from the excitement, eyes shining like stars as he talked without even taking a single breath.

“And he’s on this island? I want to meet him.” Chopper declared.

“Su-”

“You remember that he learned medicine with doctor Kureha, right?” Nami hissed under her breath when Luffy started to agree, and he paled slightly at the mention of her name. “Chopper’s idea of the ideal doctor isn’t someone you’d want to meet.”

“I wouldn’t be too excited, Chopper,” Sanji said gently, crouching so he could be more level with him. “Hogback was honestly weird, and there’s something about him that’s disturbing.”

“They say never to meet your heroes,” Nami added, further trying to dissuade him from going.

“What’s that mean?” Luffy asked, tilting his head. “My hero’s Shanks, and I met him.”

“And Zoro’s hero is Mihawk, and he cut him in half.” Sanji pointed out.

“He’s not my hero.” Zoro protested, clenching his teeth when Sanji only raised his visible eyebrow in disbelief.

“But Chopper’s not going to let himself get cut him half,” Luffy said.

“I didn’t let mysel-”

“He’s not going to cut me in half.” Chopper interrupted. “He’s a doctor, we don’t do that.”

“Again, Kureha,” Nami muttered too lowly for him to hear.

“I don’t know who that is, but at this point, I’m just glad I never met them.” Franky said.

“If you want to go meet him, we can.” Luffy offered.

“Without me.” Usopp countered, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m already sick of this place.”

“If I have to stay on land then I’d rather explore in the other direction, I don’t want to put a foot in that mansion again.” Nami agreed. This had been supposed to be just a fun expedition on Mini Merry, they hadn’t expected to even step on the island. Now that the others were here, she didn’t feel guilty for looking for a safer place to explore.

Chopper turned to look at the group, knowing Sanji would prefer to follow Nami instead of going with him. He was about to accept Luffy’s offer when he suddenly took stock of who really was willing to go with him.

Luffy I-Just-Need-To-Eat-Meat-To-Heal, Zoro I-Just-Need-To-Drink-Booze-To-Heal, and their latest member, Franky I-Just-Need-To-Drink-Cola-To-Heal.

He didn’t want them to ever get close to the best doctor of the last fifty years.

The prospect of going alone, disappearing into the fog wasn’t appealing either—his instincts were still screaming at him to get away from this place, and while he was capable of ignoring it when in the presence of his friends, he didn’t want to be left alone, not even to meet one of the greatest men alive.

“Hmm… Maybe the others will be more interested...” Robin was morbid enough that she wouldn’t be disturbed if the talk got into graphic details about medical procedures, and normal enough that she wouldn’t freak out Hogback just by existing.

“They’re guarding the Sunny,” Franky explained, before stroking his chin in thought. “If we’re spreading out around the island, it might not be useful for them to stay here. It’s not like it would be easy to harm Sunny, and he’s trapped here.”

“True.” Luffy agreed. “And it’s not fair to ask them to miss on all the fun.”

“You guys continue exploring, Chopper and I will go back and tell Robin and Drake what’s going on.” Zoro decided.

~~One Piece~~

“Shouldn’t you do this in the crow’s nest training room?”

Drake finished his last push-up, locking his arms straight and turning his head to look in Robin’s direction. Despite having weights more than twice as heavy as him on his back he hadn’t yet started to break a sweat.

“Does it bother you?” While he was mostly silent apart from breathing deeply, he knew how bothering even the slightest noises could be when one looked for calm. Given that the fog dampened all sounds except for the repetitive noise of waves hitting Sunny’s hull, he could understand if Robin wanted him to take his training elsewhere. Especially now that they had a dedicated training room, even if it mostly belonged to Zoro.

“No, no.” She was quick to reassure him. “I was just wondering if it wouldn’t be better for you to do it up there instead of on the deck.”

“I wouldn’t have someone to help me take the weights off in the training room.” He teased, smiling when arms appeared all over his back and around him and safely put the weights on the deck. “Franky did splendid work on the training room, but I’ve gotten used to training on the outside.” He explained, sitting cross-legged on the lawn facing Robin.

“It’s rather nice here.” She agreed. “Even when the others are around, I prefer reading on the deck than locking myself up in the library.”

“You’re too aware of your surroundings to be bothered by their antics.” Given the life she had lived and her powers’ potential, it wasn’t surprising that Robin always knew where everyone was located on the ship and reacted to incoming disasters that threatened her books before they could happen.

She hummed in agreement, before coming back to her book. Drake shifted a little, straightening into a proper meditation posture, wrists landing on his knees, palms up. He spread out his awareness, finding that his Haki wasn’t going as far as he knew it could. Almost as if something was restricting it. He didn’t know what could disturb it so much; the only sensation he could liken it to was as if he was in the middle of a crowd and couldn’t focus on anything. The problem was that they were alone, and it felt as if the fog itself was alive and disturbing his senses.

He jolted, eyes snapping open when he felt something at the edge of his awareness. Robin noticed the movement, her eyes landing on him with a question in them.

Drake frowned, trying to focus on the sensation. For a moment, he could only detect the two of them, until that vague feeling appeared once again.

“There’s someone there.” He warned in a whisper, cautiously rising to his feet. “They’re evading my senses.” He had never felt anything like it. It wasn’t like an expert Haki user hiding their presence, no, it was as if there was a void where someone should have been. An emptiness that his mind struggled to lock on, as if it mentally urged him to look away, to ignore it.

“Where?” Robin had put her book down and had stood up when he did, arms loosely hanging at her side but ready to cross at a moment’s notice, her eyes slowly roaming over the seemingly empty deck.

“Close.” Was the only answer he could give. He had felt them when they were on the docks at the bottom of the ship, and they could already be on board without his knowing as he had lost the presence and couldn’t find it again.

His ears strained without hearing anything, his own breathing loud in the silence. A plank creaked where Robin was standing, and he glanced at her only to see that she hadn’t moved at all. Before he could try to warn her, she jerked away, her arm snapping to the side and hitting something.

“There!” She shouted, trying to turn her instinctive move to get away into something that would allow her to grasp the invisible opponent. However, the half-second delay her initial reaction had created had been too much, and her hand only found air.

Drake put his hand on his axe but didn’t draw it out. He couldn’t risk taking out his weapon, not when he still couldn’t sense the enemy. There was a too-high chance he would hit Robin while slashing blindly. He removed his gloves, loosening the tension in his shoulders and focusing all his senses on searching for something out of sight.

He still couldn’t see anything, and his Haki wasn’t capable of detecting a presence, only that weird emptiness pinging on his senses and warning him that the enemy hadn’t left.

He could however smell something. He would have said someone, but the smell wasn’t human—it reeked of death and of various animals he couldn’t place, as well as gunpowder. With the air stagnant because of the lack of wind, the smell had permeated the atmosphere and he couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

Now that he was sure that someone was here, he didn’t ignore the slight cracking sound coming from his left, claws slashing in that direction and encountering resistance. He cut through clothing, claws digging into something that was too firm to be skin but nevertheless drawing blood.

Robin reacted just a moment later, arms appearing on the floor and catching the being before it could move away, more arms appearing in an attempt to immobilize it. A growl betrayed the presence of something not quite human there. Despite the loud, angry sound, Drake’s sensitive ears still caught the underlying, higher-pitched sound of a gun cocking.

“Down!” He barked, jumping between Robin and the invisible opponent. A large projectile, too large to be a regular bullet, caught him in the middle of the back and he fell over Robin, making sure his body covered hers entirely.

Robin let out a small sound of pain, her arms jerking from where they were trapped between them. “I’ve lost him.” She murmured, slowly flexing her fingers against the pain of having her arms stomped by the invisible opponent.

Drake rose into a crouch, pushing Robin behind him and closer to the wall, putting himself between her and the assailant.

He strained his ears, eyes slowly roving over the deck as if it would help him detect his enemy.

“I think he left,” Robin said after a minute.

“I can’t feel anything weird.” Drake agreed, rising up and holding out a hand to pull Robin to her feet, still wary that his opponent was baiting them into lowering their guard.

“Are you alright?” She asked, patting his back. Beneath the singed jacket she could only feel unharmed skin.

“I’m fine. It wasn’t a normal bullet but it wasn’t anything that could harm me either.”

“Yes.” She agreed, grabbing the empty shell. “It comes from a bigger weapon, I’d say a bazooka.” She wasn’t an expert on weapons, but she had an eye for details and remembered seeing the aftermath of Lassoo fighting during her Baroque Works’ days.

Drake’s awareness was still spread out, and he sensed when Zoro and Chopper approached them.

“Hey.” He greeted once they became visible. “Did you see anyone getting away from here?”

“No,” Zoro answered, Chopper shaking his head next to him. “What happened?”

“Someone invisible just tried to attack us, you missed them by a minute,” Robin answered.

“Invisible?” Zoro repeated.

“I suspect something like a Chameleon Devil Fruit,” Drake said. “They smelled like animals, and let out a growl too deep to have been produced by a normal human.”

“Do chameleons growl?”

“I don’t know, it all sounds like human tongue to me,” Chopper admitted.

“Crocodiles can growl, I can growl, I don’t see why chameleons wouldn’t.”

“Crocodile never growled, he was too haughty for that.”

“Was that a non-morbid joke? Robin, I’m proud of you.”

“Should we… Tell the others that there’s an invisible guy?” Chopper asked, and both Drake and Robin noticed the hesitance in his tone.

“Maybe,” Robin answered, not committing to anything. “Why did the two of you come back?”

“We met with Nami and the others,” Zoro explained. “They said they met one of Chopper’s heroes on the island.”

“Hero?”

“Doctor Hogback!” Chopper shouted, his excitement returning. “He’s just the best doctor, and the smartest, and he did so much to advance modern medicine and I can’t wait to meet him but I couldn’t do it with Luffy and Franky because they’ll be able to drive even the most extraordinary doctor into a nervous breakdown just by existing, I know because I’m still not over Franky just doing surgery on himself-”

“Chopper, breathe.”

“Right. Right.” He took a few exaggerated breaths. “Zoro’s presence is already pushing it, and I didn’t want to bring anyone too weird or who would be disturbed if we start to talk injuries and illness and other things Usopp would find icky.”

Zoro kept quiet his complaint that he couldn’t be considered the weird one when Chopper was literally a talking, transforming reindeer. Seeing Chopper not only accept but forget about his own weirdness was worth all the insults thrown his way.

“I’d be glad to go with you,” Robin said.

“I’m going to tell Luffy and the others about the Chameleon man then.” Drake wasn’t too fond of doctors, especially unknown ones. “You’ll tell me all about the encounter the next time we see each other, alright?”

“Okay!”

Chapter Text

“Do you think Doctor Hogback left?” Chopper asked as Robin’s knock on the mansion’s door went unanswered for almost two minutes.

“It’s his house, isn’t it? Why would he leave?” Zoro said.

“I don’t know,” Chopper said, tapping his hoofs against the door and producing a far louder sound than Robin’s knocking.

When nobody answered after a minute and they couldn’t hear any movement from inside, Zoro tried the handle, finding the door unlocked.

“That isn’t polite!” Chopper protested even as he followed him inside, peering with wonder at his surroundings.

“When have I ever cared about being polite?” Zoro shot back.

“Well, I care! I want to meet Doctor Hogback and I want him to like me and to treat me seriously...” His angry tone faded away as he lost himself in the fantasy of how their meeting would go, and Zoro and Robin shared a look over his head. “Who knows what kind of secrets he might reveal? How much medicine will advance once he gets out of his self-imposed isolation? The remedies he will have discovered, the operations only he will be able to complete-”

“Stop.” Robin’s harsh whisper, despite not being loud, stopped his protests at once. He looked up, ready to protest that he was just excited to meet such a genius, so it was normal that he was rambling on, only to see the intense, concentrated look on her face. Even after inhaling deeply, he could only smell their small group and the scent of death that permeated the island. With the air being entirely still in the building, he was more likely to see someone before having the chance to smell them.

“What have you heard?” Asked Zoro after a moment, not having heard any noise.

“Whispers.” She answered, suspiciously turning around to survey the room they were in. “I’m sure I heard someone whispering while Chopper was talking. It might be the invisible enemy that attacked me and Drake earlier.”

“They know, they know!”
“They can’t know about the Mysterious Four, they’re not allowed to know.”
“Master Hogback trusted us to make sure nobody would know about his secrets.”
“But he’s in his secret laboratory, he’s not here to give us the go-ahead.”
“Our orders are clear, they’re not allowed to get out of here alive!”

All of the paintings in the room, who had up until now been quiet—as paintings are wonted to be—if creepy—not that anyone in this particular group had noticed—started to whisper, their previously still frames getting animated as they talked, turning or leaning forward and out of their frame to see the other paintings, gesturing animatedly to argue their point, and generally starting to do a lot of things painting weren’t supposed to be doing.

“That’s new,” Robin commented out loud with a bland smile, causing them all to freeze at once as they remembered themselves and the role they were supposed to play.

“GET THEM, BOYS!” Shouted the painting of one particularly ugly man, his deformed face reminding the more art-inclined people in the room (Robin) of the expressionism style that had been all the rage in the South Blue for the last 30 years. His unlucky appearance didn’t impact his lung capacity at all, since the shout was loud enough to make the walls tremble. Or maybe it was the fact that all paintings and various other types of decorations had suddenly started moving off the wall to throw themselves in the direction of the Straw Hats.

The concerted attack was commendable, not many groups that large would have been able to execute an unplanned strike without getting in each other’s way, but it didn’t do them any good against those particular opponents.

With one slash of his sword, Zoro had cut all of the painting on one side of the room in half. He scowled when the stones behind showed faint marks of his attack as well. He had recently decided to focus on improving his precision, Drake’s words on Haki being half mental strength having impacted him. If it wasn’t an issue of physical strength that prevented him from coating his blades with Armament, then more meditation and finer control over his attacks might be the way to progress.

Robin wasn’t far behind. With a cross of her arms and without bothering to call out her attack, she created an arm on each side of the paintings in her view, one grabbing the frame to prevent it from moving, the other the enemy springing out of it. Simultaneously, the remaining enemies in the room were torn away from their paintings, large clouds of what looked like smoke getting out of the tears and only leaving blank canvas behind.

Zoro and Robin barely had the time to stumble when the floor—or more accurately the rug they were standing on—started moving under their feet before Chopper had reacted, shifting into Heavy Point and grabbing onto the bear-rug face, forcing its mouth closed before it could bite him. With two punches, the rug-bear dropped down on the floor, unconscious.

Less than a chaotic minute later, the three Straw Hats were the only beings still awake left in the room.

“That was suspicious.” First zombies hidden underground in hollow graves, then an invisible enemy and now paintings and other wall decorations, it seemed like the island hid far more enemies than expected, and all of them had tried to attack the crew sneakily. Zoro knew he wasn’t the sharpest sword in the forge, but everything about this reeked of a trap even Luffy wouldn’t have fallen for.

“Is anyone else interested in finding this secret laboratory they mentioned?” Asked Robin.

“Yes! We need to warn Doctor Hogback! He’ll be devastated to know that he was surrounded by so many enemies, who knows what they might have done to him if we hadn’t gotten here in time?”

‘Correction, Luffy might have fallen for it.’ Zoro thought with a grimace, turning to once again share a look with Robin. Despite her slight smile betraying the amusement she felt at Chopper's obliviousness, there was a look in her eyes that spoke of her expecting to be attacked again, and that nobody would like the outcome if they tried. Especially not Doctor Hogback, whose nefarious deeds—whatever they were, she had an idea but she wasn’t sure how involved he was in what was happening on the island—were bound to harm Chopper just by destroying the image he had of the man.

“But if it’s a secret laboratory, then it won’t be easy to find! And Doctor Hogback has one of the most powerful minds so it’ll be extra hard.” Panicked Chopper.

“Easy.” Drawled Zoro. “If it’s hidden, then it won’t be in a room, right? So it can only be hidden in a wall.” With that profound knowledge now shared, and without giving them any time to react to his statement, he had cut a perfect door in one of the walls, stones crumbling to the ground.

“Nooooo” Chopper’s whine trailed off when he looked up at Zoro’s entirely unrepentant face, knowing that there was nothing he could say that would make him understand how rude it was to cut through someone’s wall. Especially when that someone was a world-renowned doctor.

The newly created door gave access to another corridor, and the three pirates stepped over the debris to walk further inside the mansion. A strange laugh could quickly be heard, followed by a lone voice as if someone was talking to themselves. Robin took the lead, following the sound, with Chopper closing the rear to ensure Zoro kept up with them.

“…dare…insinuate…as if! …weaker without me.” The insensate voice became clearer as they reached a slightly opened door, the trio stopping next to it. Robin was about to create eyes to see what was happening inside the room when Zoro and Chopper both leaned forward to look through the opening. Knowing that there was no use in trying to be more discrete than that, she followed their lead and for once used her own eyes to spy on someone.

A man—Chopper's squealed “That’s him!” identified him as the famed Doctor Hogback—was leaning over a table, operating with his scalpel on a large mass that looked a lot like a body to Robin’s trained eyes. In the back of the room, almost hidden in the shadows of large medical equipment that looked vaguely like those they now had in the infirmary, a woman was standing unmoving as the doctor ranted under his breath.

“He couldn’t even go after two members of that bothersome crew, and he has the gall to blame me for having let those inconsiderate, not even worth sharing my air, pirates go. Oh, no no no, I’m the one who gave him his tongue and I can take it back! Isn’t that right, Cindry?”

“Yes, Doctor Hogback.”

“We’ll see if he tries again after I’m done with him… Foshfoshfosh!”

Robin was focused on analyzing the conversation. Hogback, to nobody’s surprise except Chopper’s, was definitely involved in all those strange events. He also knew who had attacked her and Drake. The dead body he was operating on had turned green from rot, which explained the stench coming from the room and the lack of blood, replaced by far more disgusting fluids. She hadn’t yet seen one of those zombies the others had mentioned, but she would bet her left arm that they were witnessing the creation of a new one.

The sound of steel sliding against steel, ‘too late to react, too close—no, it’s Zoro, what is he reacting to?’ made her whirl around to face the corridor, room forgotten at her back, just in time to see one of Zoro’s sword deflecting a flying cut, the wave of energy slashing through the walls on either side of their little group and leaving a large and clean cut behind.

“Yohohoho... It’s not often people can feel me coming when I don’t want them to.” The newcomer said, his up-until-now silent steps replaced by a loud clack-clack of his geta. His sword was back in its sheath and both of his hands hidden behind the loose clothes that covered most of his body. The parts of his body that weren’t hidden by his samurai gi were covered in bandages, including his face.

It didn’t matter how little of his body was visible, one glance was enough to deduce he was one of the zombies populating the island. The empty eyes socket where his eyes should have been were a glaring indicator of his less-than-human nature.

“I could feel your blade once you drew it.” Zoro explained with a nod toward the zombie’s side. “That is one fine sword you got there.” Definitely a named sword, and maybe even on par with Wado Ichimonji. He had barely gotten the time to sense its presence before it was back inside its sheath, and everything about it had felt like the opposite of Wado: where she was calm and composed, he had only sensed fury and rage.

The zombie glanced down at his hip, a melodic hum escaping him as he thought. “Yes. It’s… an important sword.”

“What is going on here!” The shriek pulled Zoro’s attention back toward the room they had been spying on, though he kept a careful eye on the zombie. Hogback had opened the door fully and was looking at the scene behind his glasses. Robin and Chopper had backed away a few steps, putting Zoro between the zombie and them for protection and allowing them to focus on Hogback.

“That’s what we’d like to know.” Answered Robin.

“You’re Doctor Hogback.” Said Chopper, voice small but with a hint of steel. “Why did the person you were operating on have a number on their arm?” He had never performed an autopsy on a human but he knew what it looked like, and Hogback’s actions had definitely not been one of a man trying to look for the causes of someone’s death. No, he had clearly been setting up aside some of the body’s organs and replacing them with someone’s else. Just like all the zombies had body parts that didn’t belong to them. As well as numbers on their bodies.

Hogback threw a look at him, full of contempt at being questioned, before dismissing him.

“Ryuma, take care of the intruders.” He ordered.

“No!” Snapped Chopper. “I want to know what you were doing. You’re one of the greatest doctors in the world, you can’t… Tell me you were trying to help that person on the table.” His tone turned pleading, but even he knew there was no explaining away what he saw.

“Help?” He repeated, both swordsmen forgotten as he walked further in the corridor, Cindry a few steps behind him. “I’m not here to help. I’m here to create. To experiment. To finally have the opportunity to use my talents in a way that is befitting of my genius. Why would I waste my valuable time helping anyone when I can just rebuild them, better, stronger?”

“You’re creating those zombies.” Robin summarized.

“They’re not zombies. Zombies are people who have died and came back to life. I’m creating bodies, indestructible and replaceable, to ensure that even when someone’s body fails them they can still live on forever. I’m not creating zombies. I’m creating immortality.”

~~One Piece~~

Hogback continued to rave behind Zoro’s back, explaining the reason why he was on the island and how Moria was involved. The swordsman wasn’t really listening, far more preoccupied with the enemy in front of him. Robin and Chopper could take care of the doctor and were far more suited to understand everything important in his story.

“I haven’t met a swordsman I wasn’t capable of defeating in one hit since I fought the owner of my shadow,” Ryuma said.

“And I’ll be the last swordsman you’ll ever meet,” Zoro answered simply.

Ryuma darted toward Zoro who only parried the hit because he had seen his hand move toward the hilt of his sword.

‘Fast!’

Already he was taking a step back to get out of Zoro’s immediate range, forcing the pirate to move forward, modifying the angle he was counterattacking at and allowing Ryuma to block the slash easily. The strength behind the hit still pushed back the zombie, who avoided crashing into a wall with quick footwork.

‘But not strong.’ That small exchange had been enough for Zoro to determine how good of a sword Ryuma’s was, but the sword didn’t make the swordsman, just as the swordsman didn’t make the sword.

To be pushed back despite the blade yearning to attack, draw blood, and destroy, showed Ryuma’s glaring shortcomings. And with his friends fighting behind him, far too close for him to risk a slash going by, Zoro wasn’t above exploiting his weaknesses.

Still, he was skilled enough to merit Zoro’s full attention. He untied his bandanna from his arm and tied it up around his forehead, world condensing into his swords and that of his opponent.

“What’s his name?” Zoro asked, tilting his head toward Ryuma’s sword. The presence had definitely felt male, just like Yubashiri and Wado were females.

“Shusui,” Ryuma answered, not asking the question back. No swordsman worth their blade would have passed the opportunity to learn more about their opponent’s sword, and their name could be a huge indicator of their temperament.

That short clash had been enough to determine that Ryuma wasn’t the best swordsman Zoro had ever met, even excluding Hawkeye. Kaku had shown far more promise before he had used his Devil Fruit. However, Ryuma was still strong enough that he should have known better.

Maybe his body was that of a swordsman, maybe the shadow animating it was—he had recognized Brook’s unique laugh, but he hadn’t seen a sword on the skeleton and didn’t know how he fought—but that mismatched, unnatural mix of the two wasn’t. Something essential had been lost in the process of creating the being in front of him.

Ryuma once again went on the offensive, and despite Zoro being prepared for his speed he still got surprised by how fast he had moved, barely sidestepping the blade, his shoulder grazing a wall as he repositioned himself.

He anticipated the next attack, slipping inside Ryuma’s defense, one of his swords deflecting his opponent’s while the two others cut through Ryuma’s side, taking out a large chunk of flesh with them.

“It doesn’t matter how much you wound me. I don’t feel pain.”

“That’s why you’ll lose.”

“I won’t.”

“Yes you will,” Zoro answered, sword snapping out to the side right into Ryuma’s path, and would have cut him in two had he not skidded to a halt. “You’re fast, but predictable. You’ll never get better, because why should you if you don’t feel the pain, knowing that you’re hurting because you weren’t good enough? And you-” He moved a blade in front of his body, parrying Ryuma’s next attack. “-you’ll lose because you can’t feel the thrill of the fight, of getting hurt, of risking death.”

He had been determined, back in the East Blue, to become the world's greatest swordsman, but it was only after his encounter with Mihawk and nearly getting cleaved in two that he had remembered how it had felt to fight not knowing whether you would win or lose, of giving everything he had and a little more and wondering if it would be enough. Kuina’s death had robbed him of that little spark without him even noticing.

“Predictable?” Ryuma repeated, voice soft. “That’s one thing this body had never been called before.”

“This body?”

“Yes. While the shadow inhabiting this body is that of a swordsman, I don’t remember being him. I only remember fighting him once. But this body… I was a samurai, from the great country of Wano, in what you now call the New World. Shusui was already my sword, all those centuries ago.”

‘So there is still some of his soul left.’ Zoro thought, noticing Ryuma’s use of “I” while talking about his body’s history.

“They called me the Sword God.” He continued. “I slayed a dragon once, using Shusui.”

“I’ve never seen a dragon before,” Zoro admitted.

“It was a great beast, its fire breath capable of burning someone to ashes in mere seconds. I cut its head in one slash, and the villagers crafted a sake set out of one of its smaller teeth.” Great, now Zoro wanted sake. “They respected me, because I believed in justice and honor… Do I still believe in justice and honor? You remind me of a great many things I had forgotten, young man. Whoever I was before, that great swordsman that deserved to use this extraordinary sword, would never have been called predictable.”

He raised his head to look at Zoro, and there was fire in his gaze. Litteral fire: blue flames were shining in the depth of his empty orbits.

“I will fight you, because that is what Master Moria wants from me, and because I have never refused to battle someone willing to cross swords with me. If I win, I will take your life and those memories you helped me recall. If you win, then you can take my life… And Shusui will go to the better swordsman.”

“You’ll be leaving me with your problem child, eh?” Zoro said, a savage grin forming on his face. “I agree!”

“Let’s give everything we have,” Ryuma said, hand on Shusui’s hilt as they both took position facing each other, both knowing that the duel would be over after that one attack.

Zoro shifted his grip on Kitetsu and Yubashiri, ready to attack and counter Ryuma. He didn’t need Ashura to win, nor would he use Haki. This was purely a test of skill, and he was determined not to let Ryuma’s attack reach his skin. Any scar he acquired would only be proof that he wasn’t good enough.

One breath, two, and they moved at once, leaping toward each other, their swords clashing too quickly for an observer to see, and on the third breath they had passed each other, now standing back to back.

Ryuma continued moving for a few steps, slowly reinserting his sword into its scabbard.

“I guess I didn’t remember well enough.” He said softly, and as the last of his blade disappeared, his body fell to the ground, cut in half. His shadow shivered, also cut in half, before reforming and escaping into the sky.

“I can see how you managed to kill a dragon in only one slash,” Zoro said in the same tone, turning to look at the fallen body. He removed Wano from his mouth and put her and Yubashiri away, before holding Sandai Kitetsu in front of him.

Cracks just like a spiderweb had spread across half the blade, and while it hadn’t shattered under the impact it had become entirely unusable. The smallest shock would be enough to destroy it.

He could feel the cursed sword act up, its roar resounding in his head as Kitetsu struggled to understand what had happened to him, the violence of its curse enough to make his arm shake, black spreading through his veins as it poisoned his blood in front of his eyes.

“I’m not letting you go.” He vowed. “Kitetsu, listen to me, I’m not giving you up, I won’t let you go!” The black stopped spreading, almost reaching to his elbow, as Kitetsu’s rage at the perceived betrayal calmed down enough to listen to what he was saying. “I don’t know if you can be fixed just as you were, but I will find a way to make you see combat again, I promise you. I’m not strong enough right now, but if I have to channel my Haki into you until the day I die to ensure you don’t have to retire, I’ll do it. I won’t let you shatter, and I’m not giving up on you.”

Kitetsu seemed to hesitate, entirely silent, until with one last spike of pain that had Zoro’s fingers spasm, he loosened his curse.

His body started filtering the poison instantly, the unnatural color fading away as Zoro carefully put the blade back into its scabbard.

It would teach him to underestimate his enemies. He had to remember he was risking more than his well-being each time he fought. If Ryuma had escaped because he hadn’t taken him seriously enough, both Chopper and Robin would have been in danger. He had vowed to Luffy he would never be defeated again, but even winning could end with the people he cared about having been hurt. The thought that Wado could have been destroyed was detestable.

With a scowl, he walked toward Ryuma’s body and grabbed Shusui. He could instantly feel it poke at the swords on his hips, who poked back with varying levels of violence. “Already causing problems, uh.” He commented when Shusui gloated at Kitetsu over it’s superiorness. Something he couldn’t disagree with as he drew the sword a few inches and looked at its craftsmanship.

“Everyone settle down.” He barked when the pressure from Wado and Yubashiri rose as they defended Kitetsu and started to give him a headache. “I’m not replacing Kitetsu with Shusui. And I’m not turning to four-sword-style either.” What a stupid suggestion. For now, Kitetsu was no longer usable, and he needed a third sword. What he would do with it if Kitetsu was reparable he didn’t know, but it was a problem for another day.

They quietened but he could still feel their discontentment. They would have to learn to work together. For now, he needed to find Chopper and Robin again.

Chapter Text

Chopper couldn’t believe was he was hearing. What Hogback had been doing all those years, ever since his disappearance, and was now admitting proudly.

He couldn’t help but wonder if, even before he had disappeared from the face of the earth and settled on Thriller Bark, he had been conducting similar unethical experiments. Nobody suddenly became evil and cast aside their morals. Who knew what he had been doing to his patients all these years?

He knew that sometimes doctors had to make harsh decisions to save someone’s life, and they couldn’t always ask for permission. Doctorine had always been the kind to treat first, apologize never. For a doctor, it was better to see their patient crippled but alive rather than dead, even if the concerned didn’t agree.

What Hogback had been doing wasn’t anything like that.

It was a perversion of medicine. A perversion of life itself. He was putting a shadow, what was basically a copy of a person’s soul, in another’s body without the consent of anyone involved. He was operating on people, creating the patchwork of bodies he had seen outside, all in the name of science.

The very thought made his fur crawl. He knew he was rather ignorant of the way the world worked, couldn’t envisage the horrors humans and other intelligent beings were capable of creating until he was faced with them, but as a doctor he had never shied away from what he had to learn. Doctorine had tried to hide the worse from him, but Drum had still been a country with a corrupt King at the head of a corrupt army with total control over the doctors, and he had learned how valuable consent was. Unless lives were at stake, he would always choose to spend a few minutes to ensure his patients understood what he was going to do.

He took a deep breath, nose twitching as he tried to follow’s Hogback scent. The doctor—no, he refused to use this word in association with Hogback. The criminal had run away once Zoro and Ryuma had started fighting seriously and the zombie started loosing. Cindry had prevented them from running after him until Robin had distracted her long enough for Chopper to slip away.

However there were a lot of hidden passages in the mansion that Hogback seemed to know like the back of his hand, and Chopper had almost lost track of him twice already. He had followed him outside, but now couldn’t smell him anymore. It was one more oddity of the island: despite the lack of wind, the scent had entirely disappeared as if blown away.

He walked a few steps in each direction but couldn’t find the scent again, and he was unable to see anything other than vegetation through the fog. Creepy looking vegetation. With a shiver of fear, he decided to get back inside the mansion.

~~One Piece~~

Despite being a dead body animated with a stolen shadow, Cindry was dedicated to her mission: slowing Robin down and preventing her from running after Hogback.

Robin suspected it was because of Moria’s powers. Who knew what kind of hold he had over a shadow once he had stolen it. She hadn’t missed that the swordsman attacking them had been laughing like Brook, but hadn’t shown any hint of having the skeleton’s personality. Cindry had her own set of quirks—Robin had gotten a small cut over her eyes from when she hadn’t been quick enough to dodge a flying plate—but she didn’t know if they came from the original body, the shadow, or Moria and Hogback actions. Cindry’s face was devoid of expression even as she fought with all she had.

She had stopped trying to get close to Robin after the first time her roundhouse kick had ended with her leg getting grabbed and her knee dislocated. She had put back her limb into place without showing any sign of pain but had been wary ever since. She was now trying to fight from a distance and had lured Robin into the kitchen to have access to a lot of kitchenware to throw at her.

She was stronger than her wiry limbs suggested; Robin had trouble putting her into a choke hold or immobilizing her for more than a few seconds before she got overpowered. Cindry had even, at one point, thrown a large furnace at her with enough force to leave a hole in the wall.

After a few minutes of fighting, Robin finally noticed something interesting. Cindry was being careful when grabbing objects from the cupboards. She wasn’t doing it blindly as she had been with the cooking ware. A quick glance inside a cupboard that had been almost entirely emptied revealed that there was one item that hadn’t been touched. At the back of the cupboard, the package still pristine showing it had never been opened, was a singular bag of salt.

“I wonder why you haven’t tried to use that.” Robin mused out loud, an arm appearing in the cupboard with a thought, opening the package and throwing a handful of salt in Cindry’s direction.

The result was immediate. The zombie flinched as if hit, almost slapping herself in her haste to get the grains off of her body, and Robin noticed how the shadow dimed around where the salt had fallen to the floor.

“It’s not quite sea-stone, but salt is similar enough to saltwater to weaken the shadow’s hold on the body.” She realized. Given the number of zombies and the distance between them and their creator, some being at the edge of the island while Moria was no doubt residing somewhere near the middle, the Shichibukai’s control over them had to be minimal. “Now, how to get rid entirely of Moria’s hold on your shadow...” A circle of salt around the body, with most of the shadow outside of it, might work to cut the shadow away, but Cindry wasn’t going to let herself be trapped easily.

She needed something more efficient. A few grains had been enough to damage the shadow, but it had only been temporary. Even as she dodged a thrown fridge door, which thankfully had been torn away from its hinge and wasn’t followed by the rest of the fridge, she noticed that Cindry’s shadow was already back to its original state.

If she couldn’t get rid of the shadow by attacking from the outside, then doing it from the inside might work.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get all those plates away from the furniture before you throw the cupboards?” She asked, ready to attempt her strategy. Cindry opened her mouth to answer—she wasn’t talkative, but the mention of plates was bound to get a reaction from her—and without giving her time to react Robin slammed the hand which had been hanging at the end of a line of arms from the ceiling over her face and forced a handful of salt into her mouth. Cindry swallowed in shock, which doomed her. She fell to the ground like a puppet cut out of its string, and the shadow broke away from the body, swirled a few times around it before flying away through a wall.

Robin wondered where it would go, if there was someone, somewhere, who would be able for the first time in years to step into the sun.

Now, she needed to find either Chopper or Zoro. Chopper was the one who needed her the most, since he had gone after Hogback, and she doubted Zoro needed any assistance to win his fight. Yet, if Hogback ran back and reached Moria… The mad scientist had to be invaluable to him, and Moria might choose to get involved in the fight if he heard he was in trouble. Which wouldn’t bode well for Chopper and Robin if they didn’t have backup.

So Zoro it was. She started to walk back toward the entrance of the mansion. There was little doubt Zoro would try to advance further inside once he was done fighting, and so would end up somewhere around the Thousand Sunny instead.

She felt a small weight on her neck and her hand swapped at it before she could think, throwing to the ground a large spider that scurried away.

“What-” She staggered, breaking her fall by hitting the wall. She touched the back of her neck, her fingers sensing the small entry point where the small animal had bitten her. She lost her fight against gravity and slid down the wall, wondering if she would be able to save herself yet knowing her teammates would prevent anything bad from happening to her, before unconsciousness took her.

~~One Piece~~

“Zoro!” Chopper exclaimed as he entered one of the empty rooms. He had been following the swordsman's scent for a while now, and it seemed like Zoro had crossed every room of the mansion while aimlessly roaming.

“Oi, Chopper, where were you? I’ve been looking for you and Robin.”

“I was—never mind.” There was no need to tell Zoro he had been moving away from him all the while. But Zoro was alone, and Chopper was pretty sure they had passed through every room… And while he had seen Cindry’s body in one, he hadn’t seen any sign of Robin. “Did you see Robin?” Zoro’s eyes narrowed at the question.

“No. There was that one zombie that was following Hogback in one of the rooms around here-” Cindry was on the other side of the mansion “-but I haven’t seen her.”

“Do you think she went somewhere?” Chopper asked worriedly.

“She wouldn’t have left without letting us know.” And they had both agreed to keep an eye on Chopper, knowing the revelation that Hogback wasn’t a good guy would have shaken him.

“Let’s find her.” Zoro continued, and with a move Chopper’s eyes barely managed to follow slashed the nearest wall in two.

Well, at least there was one advantage to going with Zoro, they were sure not to miss a hidden room.

~~One Piece~~

Drake was glad it hadn’t taken him much time to find Luffy’s group. He didn’t like being alone on that island, and running to reach the group as quickly as possible just made him feel like he was prey. His animal side was heavily protesting that feeling and it was causing discordance between his instincts and his rational mind.

He was also worried about the existence of an invisible enemy that could almost evade his Haki, of the ghost-like beings that had totally evaded his Haki, and of the Shichibukai that would no doubt appear at the most inopportune time to pick a fight with them.

Luffy’s group had been wandering without a destination in mind, their captain only wanting to explore the island—which was sadly starting to get boring, now that the zombies were keeping away from them and the fog hid anything interesting—and to find Brook, determined to spend more time with his new crew mate. He also had the goal of finding Moria and beating his ass for stealing Brook’s shadow, but he wasn’t in a hurry.

Nami and Usopp were just happy to have more than one strong crewmate around, and Sanji, Franky, and now Drake were more than willing to follow their captain along while he walked around aimlessly.

“Negative… Negative… Negative...”

“That’s the ghosts from earlier!” Shouted both Usopp and Luffy at the same time, one in fright and the other in… Well, it wasn’t really excitement, Luffy's basic state of being was just rather loud.

“They’re definitely less discrete than the first one.” Drake commented, watching cautiously the ghosts floating around them, repeating ‘negative’ in a high-pitched voice.

“Hey! You, ghost! Do you know where Brook went?” Luffy asked.

“Negative...”

“Don’t ignore me!”

“Negative...”

“I don’t think they can say anything other than negative.” Usopp cautioned.

Ignoring him, Luffy jumped toward the nearest ghost, trying to catch him between his arms, but it passed right through him.

“Are they even here? It might just be some sort of illusion.” Sanji wondered.

“Luffy?” Usopp asked, seeing him frozen, and Luffy fell to his knees, curving his body into a small ball on the floor.

“I want to be reborn as a clam...”

“What the hell?”

“Franky, step back!” Nami shouted, her warning coming just a moment too late, one of the other ghosts passing through his body.

He bend in half, hands gripping his hair, and started to cry dramatically. “I’m just as useless as a Yankee screwdriver.”

“Negative...”

“Well, I guess they’re real. And they have the ability to make us negative.” Drake deduced.

“Raaaah! Get back here-” Drake snatched Luffy’s shirt before he could throw himself at one of the grinning ghosts for the second time.

“Don’t touch them.” He warned.

“How do we fight them?” Nami asked, hand hovering over her clima-tact.

“I have no- hnrk.”

Worthless. He was so worthless. Ever since his birth, he had been useless, and everyone around him had known it. But he had kept on living, clinging to life like a cockroach despite his acquaintances hoping he would drop dead. He had tried to find happiness, to give meaning to his insignificant existence, but he was empty inside. He would never find happiness for himself, would keep sucking the joy out of everyone else without ever filling the void inside of his heart. First joining the Marines, then coming back to being a pirate, all had been pointless attempts-

“I should go sleep at the bottom of a pond.” He was barely aware of the words leaving this mouth, words which failed to convey how little he deserved to live-

“Drake? Hey, come on.”

Someone was rubbing his back, sullying themselves by touching his worthless body-

The reality of the situation snapped back into place, and Drake let out a heartfelt “Fuck.”

“We need to get away from here,” Nami ordered.

Sanji looked torn between amusement at their expense and worry at seeing them brought down so easily.

“I’m not letting one touch me again,” Drake vowed.

“Maybe Armament will work—even a clam is too good for me, I should be a worm.”

“Is everything on this island designed to make my skills useless?” Drake wondered, noting that Luffy was shaking off the negative effects quickly. He wasn’t sure how long it had lasted on him, it had to be seconds in real life despite feeling far longer, but Franky had decidedly not gotten over the ghost’s attack that easily.

“Okay, it doesn’t look like they are following us,” Nami said, keeping an eye on the ghost that were watching them slowly creep back.

“Which is suspicious.” Sanji added.

“It is?” Luffy asked.

“Someone has to have created those ghosts and ordered them to attack us. It’s weird that they stopped.” He explained.

“Right.” Luffy frowned as he thought. “We’re on that Morta guy’s ship. I wouldn’t have let other people walk on my ship without punching them.”

“Moria.” Drake corrected.

“Between the zombies, the invisible creature that attacked Drake and Robin and those ghosts… Wait, could the invisible thing be another ghost?” Nami wondered.

“No, the ghosts aren’t fully invisible. And the person who attacked us was tangible, unlike them.”

“I have a few tricks in mind to deal with someone invisible if they show their face around here,” Franky said, cracking his knuckles.

“It wouldn’t show-”
“Was that Brook?” Luffy asked, peering in the distance, cutting Usopp off.

“Where?”

“There, in the fog!”

“I don’t see anything.”

“Oii, Brook!”

“Wait, Luffy, don’t run off-”

“Shit. I’m going with him, you shitheads protect Nami-san!” Sanji shouted as he took off after Luffy, both disappearing in the fog in a matter of seconds.

“I hate thiiiis,” Usopp wailed.

“Can’t help but agree with you, bro.”

“Well, since Luffy’s no longer here to want to explore, how about we all go back to Sunny?” Nami asked, hope in her voice.

“Sorry Nami, but I don’t think we’ll be allowed to follow our tracks back,” Drake said.

“Not with those ghosts around.” Franky agreed.

“Do we really have to walk into a trap when we know it’s a trap?” Usopp wondered.

“We’re on the territory of someone who’s making a living bringing pirate crews to the Marine. They’re not going to let us set the rules of the game, and we’re at a disadvantage the longer we stay on the island without knowing exactly against whom we’re fighting.” Drake explained. “With the fame we just gained after Enies Lobby, they might know exactly who we are and what we’re capable of.”

“You can’t really plan around Luffy-bro, tho.” Franky pointed out.

“You forget that Luffy can be incredibly dumb,” Nami said.

“Case in point, him running into the fog on his own,” Usopp added.

“Those zombies might have been weak on their own, but the scary factor and their number make them a credible threat. Well, unless they face an enemy scarier than them. The ghost by themselves wouldn’t be capable of defeating someone, but imagine them attacking you in the middle of a fight and dropping everything to lament your life choice… The people here aren’t fighting fair, they rely on underhanded means, and that’s why there’s little doubt Luffy will fall into a trap at one point.” Nami said.

“But if the enemy is devious, then we have an ace in the hole,” Drake said, him, Franky, and Nami all turning to look at Usopp.

“Me?” He shrieked.

“You’re cowardly and unable to fight an enemy face to face, but you still win your fights. You’re the boss here, bro. Tell us what to do.”

~~One Piece~~

“Luffy.”

“Two more minutes!”

“Luffy, Brook’s not here, you won’t find him even if we keep looking for twenty minutes.”

“You don’t know that!” Protested Luffy with a pout.

“We could be spending more time with Nami-san, but here we are, walking in the fog, with no beautiful lady in sight.”

“Maybe we’ll see a beautiful lady zombie?”

“Hmm.” Sanji took a drag of his cigarettes. Cindry had been beautiful, and despite looking mostly human he had been able to tell that she was a zombie. But he didn’t like how she had been sad, and if being a zombie meant she couldn’t be happy he would rather not see any more. “Well, if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather go back somewhere with less fog.”

“We’re exploring,” Luffy said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

“It’s boring if we can’t see anything.” Sanji pointed out. “And since Brook’s not even here-” He felt a bug against his neck and smashed the creature away with a panicked curse, kicking it when it landed at his feet. Next to him, Luffy let out a surprised sound of pain and slapped himself.

“Woah,” Sanji muttered as he lost his balance, landing on the floor with a grunt. Luffy crashed at his side, his hands clenched into fists as he looked around from his position on the floor, trying to find an enemy. Sanji’s vision was swirling, the fog not helping him focus at all. He tried to move when he heard squealing coming from behind him but barely managed to turn around and land on his front when he felt another bite on his neck, and this time blacked out entirely.

~~One Piece~~

“-ke up. Sanji, wake up!” He opened his eyes as he registered a woman’s voice crying out his name, and stared into Nami’s beautiful amber eyes. He was leaning against a wall on Sunny’s deck, Nami kneeling next to him, one of her hands resting on his cheek as she peered worriedly into his face.

“I must have died and gone to heaven because you’re as beautiful as an angel.”

She sighed, exasperation mixing with fondness in her expression, before she lightly tapped his cheek. “You’re not dead, moron. So wake up, because we’re going to need you.”

He looked around the deck at her words. Zoro and Usopp were leaning over Luffy, trying to wake him up. A moment later, the door to the kitchen opened—Sanji’s ears were trained to notice the distinctive little squeak it did, so he could wake up to kick Luffy out of the kitchen when he tried to eat at night—and Franky came out, holding a bowl of leftovers. The smell would be enough to wake his captain in a few moments, he knew from experience.

Brook was standing in the middle of the deck, looking at the crew around him with an unreadable expression on his bony face. Chopper was seating on the bench surrounding the main mast, looking dejected, and Drake was kneeling in front of him talking in a low voice.

Which meant… His eyes scanned the deck a second time, and he tried to focus through his headache.

“Where’s Robin?”

Chopper flinched and oh, Sanji already hated this.

“We don’t know,” Zoro answered, and Sanji turned his gaze on him.

“You don’t know?” He repeated. “Weren’t you supposed to keep track of her?” He spat.

“Sanji.” Luffy’s tone was enough to rebuke him.

“Robin can take care of herself,” Zoro answered with a glare. “She’s not a kid that needs to be babysat.”

“What happened?” Luffy asked, cutting through the tension as Sanji struggled to find words to contradict him that wouldn’t be insulting Robin’s competence.

“We think whatever attacked you two also attacked Robin,” Chopper answered hesitantly. “We scoured the mansion three times, but we only found traces of her fighting against Cindry, and she won. Whatever took her, there’s no sign she put up a fight, and neither did the two of you.” Their clothes were still pristine, Sanji’s tie neatly tucked between his shirt and vest.

Luffy nodded. “Yeah, it was weird. Something bit me, and then I woke up here. Did you guys bring us back to Sunny?”

“No. The enemies are the ones who put you back on your ship. They did the same to me five years ago.” Brook was the one who answered, and at his word Sanji had a bad feeling, glancing down at the ground.

“They stole your shadow,” Nami confirmed. “We continued walking after you and Luffy left, and we found Brook on the way. He got his shadow back thanks to Zoro defeating the zombie who had it, and he was looking for us.”

“I thought I saw you in the fog but you weren’t there,” Luffy said.

“Your shadow had already been stolen by the time I was in that area, but Moria and his minions specialize in deception. Luckily for you, I know of the zombies' weakness, so getting your shadows back will be easier.”

“I don’t care about our shadows, I care about Robin! Where had she been taken?”

“I don’t know,” Brook admitted. “Her shadow must have been stolen, that’s how they operate here, but why she hasn’t been sent back to your ship is a mystery. Moria always does it.”

“It’s my fault she’s been taken,” Chopper said with a sniffle. “I went after Hogback and she stayed to take care of Cindry. I should have stayed with her.”

“It’s nobody’s fault but the one who attacked her,” Zoro said with a scowl.

“So, how do we defeat the zombies and get her back?” Sanji asked.

“Their weakness is salt.”

“Salt?”

“Moria is the one who collects the shadows and put them into the zombies, but once he has done it he isn’t directly in control of them. The zombies obey his command, but they still have some semblance of personality that’s uniquely theirs and his control is tenuous at best. The salt is enough like salt water to affect his hold.” Brook explained

“I’ll go find our stock of salt,” Sanji said not even protesting at the idea of using food to fight the zombies. Then again, salt wasn’t food but seasoning.

“So we have an idea of how to defeat the zombies for good, but now we have two problems. Luffy, Sanji, and probably Robin’s lack of shadow, and Robin's disappearance.” Drake summarized. “We will have to look for Moria directly if we want our shadow back because there must be hundreds of zombies on that island and who knows where your shadows have been put. We don’t have the time to waste defeating them one by one.”

“Let’s make two teams,” Nami suggested. “One look for Robin, the other for Moria.”

Chapter Text

Luffy had been determined that he would be the one to kick Moria’s ass, and none of his crew were willing to tell him overwise.

Stealing Brook’s shadow and preventing the cool skeleton from joining them? Trapping the Sunny? Disappointing Chopper by having the famous doctor not be a good guy? Stealing his and Sanji’s shadow? Robin’s kidnapping?

None of them were willing to accept such an attack on their crew without retaliating, so Moria was going down.

Zoro and Brook seemed just as angry; Zoro was scowling more than usual, and Brook’s skull somehow conveyed his seriousness. Usopp was shaking a little as he walked closely behind Drake, afraid of the incoming confrontation but still wanting to do his part. He knew he could do more good in Luffy’s group than in Sanji’s one, that the blond and the rest of the crew were more than capable of finding Robin on their own. He wasn’t looking forward to facing a Shichibukai but he wasn’t one to hide away when his crew was in trouble.

Or at least, if he hid away it was to shoot his enemies from afar.

“Horohorohoro...”

They turned at once to see a woman floating in the air behind them, her cheek resting in her palm as she looked at them with a bored look on her young face, twirling a bright pink umbrella in her other hand. With her mostly pink attire and the large crown on top of her head, she didn’t look like she would fit with the mysterious vibe of the island, except for three things: the black skull on her crop top that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a jolly roger; the knee-high boots and stockings making her outfit look more emo than princessy; and the grinning ghosts floating around her.

“You’re the one controlling the ghosts.” Brook accused.

“Me?” She asked, pointing a finger at her face and donning an overexaggerated expression of shock. When no one reacted to her theatrics, she pouted for a few seconds before glaring at Brook. “And you’re that skeleton that caused us so much trouble five years ago.”

“Miss.” Brook’s tone was serious as he stepped forward, putting himself in front of the group. “I’d be willing to apologize for all the trouble I have caused if you would be so kind as to show me your panties.”

Zoro and Usopp, who hadn’t heard him ask Nami that, looked at him blankly. Drake's shoulders dropped at the confirmation that their latest crewmate was a freak for reasons other than the most obvious one, and Luffy blinked, one of his fingers stuck deep inside a nostril, already bored by the conversation.

“You-you- how dare you talk to me like that!” Perona screeched, extending a hand toward them. “Negative Hollow!” Ghosts appeared from her palms and flew toward the group, taking them by surprise.

Luffy only jerked back in surprise at her explosive reaction before he was struck. Zoro had been quick enough to draw out a sword and reflexively tried to slash it, but his blade passed harmlessly through the ghost who then passed through his torso. Drake tried to jump out of the way of the attack but was too slow to evade it completely, the Hollow passing through his shoulder. Brook, thanks to his superior speed and thinner frame, managed to dance out of the way of the attack.

And Usopp, who had had his Kabuto pointed at the woman as soon as she had appeared, flinched at her attack, going cross-eyed as his eyes tried to follow the hollow passing through his head.

Three of the Straw Hats collapsed to the ground with cries of self-hatred. One of them took a few steps backward to regain his equilibrium after his dodge.

And Usopp grimaced because he hadn’t been fast enough to avoid getting hit, he never was fast enough when it mattered, but this was nothing new, he was used to trailing behind the rest of the crew as they all grew stronger except for him…

“Uh?” He glanced back at Luffy, Zoro, and Drake, who were getting back to their feet with embarrassed blushes, and touched his forehead with one hand. He had been sure the ghost has passed right through him, but it couldn’t be.

“Oh, I see you dodged, but you won’t be able to do so a second time. Negative Hollow.”

This time, expecting the attack, Luffy, Zoro, Drake, and Brook all managed to stay out of the way of the flying hollows, only Usopp stumbling over his own feet as he tried to take a step back and getting hit. He was stupid, he should have expected her to attack again, but for all of his bragging about being cleverer than his opponent they always managed to outsmart him, which was why he had never managed to win a fight on his own against anyone that wasn’t a total weakling. He should have run away as soon as she had appeared, shoot his silly projectiles from afar while the others did most of the work.

This time there was no doubt he had been struck, the ghost passing right in the middle of his torso, and they all looked at him with disbelief.

“Is your attack defective?” He finally asked. Wasn’t she supposed to make you feel bad? Her powers weren’t fake, he had seen the others react, but he hadn’t felt any different.

“How can you- why didn’t you react?” She shrieked.

“Maybe if you tell us who you are and what your powers are supposed to do we can give you an answer.” Drake suggested.

“Oh, of course. I’m Perona, Ghost Princess Perona. Member of the Mysterious Four, Moria’s strongest crewmembers, and the cutest girl you will ever meet. I ate the Horo Horo no Mi, making me a Ghost Human. My Negative Hollows are supposed to drain the will out of anyone they touch and make them negative and depressed about themselves. So why didn’t it work?”

Usopp shrugged. “I don’t know, I didn’t feel different from usual. What?” He asked when he noticed the looks of pity on everyone’s—yes, even Perona’s—face.

“It- it doesn’t- it doesn’t matter!” Perona shouted, still shaken by her powers being so easily countered. “I won’t let you reach Moria-sama!”

Usopp frowned. He wasn’t sure why her powers hadn’t affected him, but it didn’t matter. He couldn’t let her interfere in the fight against Gecko Moria, as if she managed to hit Luffy at a critical moment he would be left vulnerable, which could become fatal against a Shichibukai.

“Everyone, move forward. I’ll deal with her.” He announced loudly, pointing her kabuto toward her face.

“Really? You’re so cool Usopp, thank you!” Luffy shouted as he started running, Zoro and Brook following him.

“Usopp.”

“…”

“Usopp you’re holding my hand.”

“Shh.”

“Usopp, I can’t go-”

“I don’t want you to go!” He cried out, whirling around to face Drake. “Do you remember that something bad happened each time we split up? I don’t want to be alone!”

“...Alright.” Drake would rather face a Shichibukai than Perona’s powers, be he wasn’t going to let Usopp fend for himself if he was asking for help. And the sharpshooter was right, it was better if no one ended up alone until they took care of all enemies on the island.

“Horohorohoro… You think you will be able to defeat me? My Negative Hollows aren’t my only attack. Let’s see how you deal with my Mini Hollow!” Dozens of ghosts, far smaller than the ones that had previously attacked them, sprung out of Perona’s hands and flew toward the two Straw Hats, who backed away and managed to avoid most of them. One grabbed Usopp’s leg, another’s teeth closing on the edge of Drake’s jacket.

“They’re different from the ones before.” Drake warned.

“Mph, even one is enough for what I have in mind. Ghost Wrap”

Perona snapped her fingers, and Drake only had a moment of warning where his instincts suddenly recognized the two mini hollows as threat before they exploded. He flinched back, more in surprise at the explosion being so close to his face than in pain, and Usopp let out a yelp behind him.

“That hurt!” He shouted, clutching at his leg.

“You’re alright?” Drake asked, surveying the damage. His pants had been singed but he didn’t look like he had been harmed.

“Of course, one little explosion isn’t enough to harm my legs. I need them to run away!”

“That’s not the brag you think it is.”

“You’re more resistant than expected for such a miserable person.” Perona pipped up. “But I guess you have to have thick skin to be able to live so depressively.”

“Oi, you don’t have to insult me...”

“It’s of no matter.” Perona said, flicking a pigtail over her shoulders. “If one small explosion isn’t enough to take you out, let’s see how well you deal when my hollows are far larger.”

“Let’s scram!” Usopp shouted, not needing to look at Drake to know he was bolting after him. They weren’t going to stay around in an open space and let Perona attack them, and since she was the one living on the island she would be less willing to try to explode them, not wanting to destroy the buildings.

They entered a different tower than the one Luffy had chosen earlier, not wanting to lead her to their teammates, ignoring Perona shouting at them to come back.

“I just need a moment to shoot at her before she can send her ghost and this fight will be over.” Usopp said as he rushed up a flight of stairs.

“It won’t be as easy.” Drake warned.

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t sense her. She’s not the invisible enemy from before, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to sense her.”

Usopp's brow furrowed in thought as he tried to make sense of that new information.

“You thought you could escape me?” He shrieked in fright as Perona appeared in front of him from nowhere. “Mini-” Drake grabbed the back of Usopp’s shirt and forked into another corridor before she could finish her attack.

“She called herself Ghost Princess.” Usopp said, having noticed that she had been able to take them by surprise because she had passed right through the floor. “Her powers are obviously more than just creating those ghosts, she’s a ghost herself. That’s why she can float and pass through walls!”

“It doesn’t fit. Even if she can pass through things, I should still be able to sense her. But I have no idea where she is, and it’s not like the fake emptiness the chameleon guy was creating.”

“Then maybe...” They looked at each other as the idea struck them at the same time.

“She’s one of those hollow herself!” They shouted together.

“The true owner of the Devil Fruit is hiding somewhere and she’s just a creation, far more complex than the other hollows.” Usopp continued the trail of thought. “We need to find the real Perona!”

“Is there even a Perona?” Drake asked as he smashed a door open to find a mostly empty storage room.

“Calling herself Ghost Princess, all the pink and the fake crown? Nobody would be bizarre enough to create such a person if it wasn’t themselves.” Usopp countered.

“The clothes are kind of over the top.” Drake agreed.

“What was that about my clothes?” She shouted, appearing upside down through the ceiling.

Usopp smirked as he remembered a specific part of her introduction. “Well, they aren’t very cute.” He taunted. Her eyes widened and she started to tremble in rage.

“Not taunting the person that can make me want to kill myself and blow you up!” Drake protested as they started to run away again, multiple ghosts passing them by and exploding around them, Perona obviously no longer caring about the integrity of the building.

“We need time to think of where her real body is hiding.” Usopp pointed out. “We can’t do that if she’s in her right mind and spying on us!”

“Well, I hope—quicksands should just swallow me and bury my body forever—gah! I hope you have an idea, because if this continues I’ll need to take my aggression out on someone and you’re the only available candidate!” He shouted as one of the ghosts clipped him.

“Then help me think of something! I can’t be the only one doing all the work here!”

“You did not just say that.” Drake skidded to a stop, grabbing Usopp by the shoulders and shaking him. “You’re immune to her negative attacks, you long-nosed bastard, don’t complain-”

“Ghost Wrap” The explosion took them by surprise, sending them flying through a wall and into a staircase, and they tumbled down to a lower floor. Drake grunted as they stopped moving, shaking his head to put his thoughts in order.

They needed to find Perona’s real body, and fast, before her attack brought down the building on top of their head.

“If I were a twenty-something, ghost-creating woman capable of controlling them from a distance, where would I hide.” He wondered out loud.

“I’m not twenty, not a woman, and can’t create ghosts, but I’m an expert at hiding, and there are hundreds of rooms in this place where she could be. If it was me, I’d stay where people the least expect it.”

“No, I don’t think she is. You’ve seen how this island is, I can’t imagine leaving here for long without freaking out at its creepiness.”

“It’s not just the island. I’ve met Hogback, and while he mostly looked pathetic to me Nami felt uncomfortable in his presence.”

“Perona isn’t just a ghost-controlling woman. She is a young, cute woman on an island filled with men who don’t seem capable of understanding what consent means when it comes both to people and dead bodies, and one of them is capable of turning invisible. Pirates like us that come to the island must rarely, if ever, reach this castle given all they have to face before they do. She doesn’t hide her body because she expects an attack from us...”

“...but from her own crewmates.” Usopp finished. He couldn’t imagine not trusting his crew to have his back, but the idea had merit.

“She can’t feel safe here. She has to stay hidden somewhere where she would have a lot of warning in case someone tries to find her, even an invisible person.”

“So she’s hidden behind multiple closed doors to ensure nobody can slip through. That, or she’s staying in the same room as Gecko Moria so he can protect her.”

“I’d bet she’s not with him.” She was barely out of her teenage years, he doubted she stayed in the same room as a middle-aged man when she could have her own.

~~One Piece~~

“MORIA!” Luffy’s fist smashed into the door, sending it flying. He entered the last room of the building first, Zoro and Brook following just a step behind.

Moria was inside the room, just as Brook had expected, his black and frilly clothes leaving little doubt about his identity. What Brook hadn’t been expecting to see however was another man. Just as tall as Moria and with far duller clothes, he didn’t react to the explosive entrance, staying with his back mostly toward the door as he faced Moria.

“I will let you take care of this, then.” The unknown man said in a deep voice. “You know your orders.”

Moria’s pointed teeth ground against each other, the comment obviously angering him. Before he could reply, the other man had disappeared from the room as if he had never been there.

“That guy was strong.” Luffy murmured, and Brook glanced at him, surprised. He hadn’t felt any threatening intent, and he wondered what Luffy had seen that would indicate strength. Zoro shifted at his side and hummed in agreement, having been able to see as well something that was still eluding the older swordsman.

“Straw Hat.” Moria focused on the teenager in front of him, barely sparing a glance at Brook and Zoro at his side.

“You’re the guy who stole our shadow.” Luffy declared, voice too flat for it to be a question. Moria answered it nonetheless.

“Yes. What of it?”

“I’m going to make you give them back.” Luffy warned, cracking his knuckles.

“I’d like to see you try.” Moria taunted. “As it is, your shadow has already been put to better use.”

As if to answer him, the tower shook around them, and Moria’s grin widened. “That’s your shadow’s new body, ready to become a staple in my army of zombies.”

“I’m going to kick your ass and get everyone’s shadow back! Gomu Gomu no PistolHanauta Sancho” he whispered, taking measured steps. As he reached the tenth one, he clicked his sword back into its sheath. “Yahazu Giri!”

All the bats jerked at once, revealing that they had been cut in half before fading away in whisps of black smoke.

“That was so cool!” Luffy shouted, and Zoro hummed in agreement.

Before they could capitalize on Brook’s attack and turn toward Moria, the building shook once more, followed by the sound of something large crashing.

“I hope he isn’t destroying too many buildings, Hogback is in one of them… Then again, I don’t need him now that I have the ultimate zombie at my beck and call!”

“Kishishishi! I put it inside my greatest creation, the strongest zombie that has ever existed, Oars! And he has finally started doing his job.”

“His job?” Zoro repeated, clearly suspicious.

“Of course.” Moria grinned widely. “He’s going to hunt down your miserable crew.”

~~One Piece~~

Drake was panting, quickly healing burn marks covering his unprotected skin. Perona had guessed that they were looking for her body and had redoubled her efforts to take them out, no longer bothering with her negative hollows but instead only attacking with the explosive ones. They only had a few seconds of respite because Usopp had noticed a pattern in the floors and had guessed the presence of a hidden room, and they had landed in the room in which her real body was resting.

She looked vulnerable right now, and despite having intermittently felt like killing himself for the last ten minutes because of her powers, Drake couldn’t help but feel some sympathy for her. It couldn’t be easy being surrounded by creeps all day, and given the look of her room—just as pink as her outfit—she would benefit greatly from getting off the island and finding people her age to hang out with.

Her ghost burst into the room, looking horrified at seeing them here, and it disappeared a moment later, her real self gasping and scrambling off the bed. It was too late; Usopp’s kabuto was already trained on her, and as he released a regular projectile, Drake shifted into his Allosaurus form, the walls of the small bedroom bursting around him as he let out a roar.

A high-pitched scream of panic left her throat when Drake turned toward her, teeth bared and drool pooling at the corner of his mouth, yellow eyes trained on her, and she froze in her attempted escape. Usopp’s projectile hit her right in the temple, her head snapping to the side and her scream cutting off as she fell off the bed.

“… Uh. I was expecting her to dodge that.”

“Is she alright?”

Usopp darted around the bed, peering at her face. “I think so… She’s unconscious.”

Drake turned back to human, wincing as pieces of plaster fell around him. He had forgotten how much he hated turning indoors when he didn’t have enough space.

“Should we just… Leave her here?” Usopp asked a moment of hesitation.

“Push her under the bed, she’ll be hidden.” They quickly made sure the sheets fell down to the floor and hid her from view, ensuring nobody would be able to find her until she woke up.

“Alright, let’s find Luffy and the othe-” The tower shook, and Usopp and Drake looked at each other before rushing out of the room and back into the corridor.

“What’s that?” Usopp shrieked as he opened the nearest window and looked out of it. Something red was filling the view, large enough to be visible from all windows in the corridor.

“Uh?”

The voice was loud enough to make the glass vibrate, and before Drake and Usopp’s horrified eyes the large form moved, lowering itself, revealing a fang almost as tall as Usopp and ending on an eye big enough to fill the window. The large pupil looked at Drake, then at Usopp who had opened his mouth to scream, but was too terrified to let out a sound.

“Oh, there are small people here.” The being boomed. “They look almost familiar...”

“Eep.”

“Hmm… I was looking for a hat… Wait, with a hat, you’d look just like one of the people Moria told me to kill.”

“Oh no.” Drake breathed out, taking a step back and taking Usopp with him. If this… This monster was with Moria…

“And you have the same nose as that other one in the pictures I was shown...”

Usopp squeaked.

“Shishishi, things really are mysterious.” With that, the monster turned its head away and started to leave.

“Don’t tell me, that laugh… Is that where Luffy’s shadow went?” Usopp hissed.

“Run run run run run!” Drake shouted, and Usopp didn’t hesitate to follow his orders, taking out after him at full speed. Drake knew Luffy, knew he could be a dumbass and sometimes his brain would take some time to think things through, but he was also very observant when he wanted to, and it wouldn’t take long for the zombie to notice they were the ones Moria had ordered him to kill.

They still didn’t know how much of the original owner of the shadow’s personality was left behind, since the zombie kept Luffy’s apparent obsession for hats and his particular laugh, while also forgetting that Luffy didn’t follow anyone’s order and didn’t kill people.

“Wait a minute!”

Drake swore. They weren’t far enough, hadn’t gotten the time to reach the stairs, and they were trapped in the small corridor.

“Down!” He shouted, Haki giving him enough warning that despite his momentum making him slide a few meters forward and Usopp colliding with his back, the gigantic zombie’s arm missed them, the punch destroying half the floor of their eyes.

“Did I get them?” The arm slowly backed away, making the tower shake as rubble fell around them, and Usopp grabbed his jacked just in time to prevent Drake from falling to the lower floors as the floor crumbled under him.

“Stay here.” He grunted, struggling to hold the weight until Drake managed to dig his claws into the floor behind him and lifted himself to a more stable piece of floor, turning around to look at the damage one single punch had caused.

The zombie hadn’t just damaged the floor they were on. A large part of the tower had been obliterated, and the stone was groaning and moving under them as more and more pieces of the tower fell.

“Oh, I missed.” With terrified eyes, Usopp watched as the zombie’s head looked through the hole it had created and straight at them, its single eye focused on them, and it cocked its arm to launch a second punch.

“We won’t survive if it hits.” Drake warned, climbing to his feet and watching with something approaching horror the incoming fist. They had only one way left to escape. Without wasting time warning Usopp, he grabbed him into a fireman’s carry and jumped through the nearest blown-up window.

It was a fifty meters drop, and his knees didn’t thank him as he landed in a crouch, but as the zombie punched out another part of the tower, bringing down most of the upper levels, he reasoned that it was a small price to pay for being alive.

“Hmm.” The zombie didn’t glance down and didn’t notice them, and it started walking away. “I can go back to looking for my hat.”

“What are we going to do?” Usopp panicked.

“Hope the others defeat Moria before this monster finds anyone else from the crew.” Drake answered. “Because I don’t think any of us will be able to stop it.”

Chapter Text

Luffy’s face was unusually serious as he looked at Moria’s openly laughing at them. He had already been angry before coming here, but now he was furious.

No version of himself would ever harm his crew. Not even his shadow. And to know that Moria had taken something from him and twisted it to use it against his nakamas?

He wasn’t going to play around. Moria was going down, right now.

“And Robin? My historian?” He needed one last piece of information before giving his orders.

“I took her shadow too, of course. And then one of my men showed interest in her, so… Kishishishi.”

“Zoro. Brook. Make sure my shadow doesn’t harm anyone.” He was going to beat Moria by himself, and he trusted Sanji and the others to rescue Robin, but he didn’t like the idea of a part of him trying to attack his friends.

Brook looked hesitant but Zoro only nodded at him, on the same wavelength. “Sure thing, Captain.”

“You’re sending your crewmates to die? How callous.”

The pressure in the room heightened suddenly, and even if he knew it wasn’t directed at him Zoro’s heartbeat increased at the sense of danger coming off of Luffy.

“You’re going to regret ever setting your sights on what is mine.” And with that warning, Luffy was off, skin taking on a pink hue and steam rising off his body, his punch taking Moria by surprise and sending him into a wall.

“Let’s go,” Zoro said, turning around and ignoring Moria failing to shift into shadow quickly enough to avoid getting kicked in the head.

~~One Piece~~

Nami, Sanji, Chopper, and Franky were circling one of Thriller Bark’s biggest buildings, trying to reach as quickly as possible the place Brook had pointed out as most likely to hold Robin.

Nami was sitting on Chopper’s back and was in charge of watching their surroundings to ensure no one was trying to sneak on them. The forest was no doubt filled with zombies hidden by the fog, and with Sanji and Franky focused on kicking and punching a path through the trees, not wanting to waste time following the existing path, it fell to Nami to watch their back.

It was the reason she was the first one to notice them. Humans, which was suspicious in itself on this island filled with nightmarish creatures, almost hidden by the trees. “Guys! There are people here!” She called out as soon as she recognized what she was seeing.

“Good,” Franky said, cracking his knuckles.

“No, I don’t think they’re enemies. I’m pretty sure I just saw them beating up a zombie!”

“Oh?”

“Maybe they’re people who have managed to survive getting attacked by Moria. Brook can’t have been the only one trapped here all those years.” Said Sanji.

“Should we go see what they’re doing?” Asked Chopper.

“We don’t have time to waste.” Pointed out Sanji.

The fog shifted, making the figures clearer. The zombie, one that didn’t look human at all, was fighting off a couple of sickly-looking pirates. Though they might not be pirates; their shabby appearance could be explained by being trapped here for who knew how long, and it was doubtful Moria would give them access to a bath or a way to find clean clothes.

Then, someone larger than the other charged at the zombie, their sword drawn. Long hair tied in two braids floated in the air as they attacked, their blade getting blocked by the zombie’s feet. Or what passed for feet for the animal it was based on—Nami suspected a penguin.

Sanji’s woman radar didn’t fail him. Instantly, the sole of his shooes was smashing into the zombie’s head and send it flying away. He looked up—she was taller than him—right into the small, dark eyes of the woman he had just saved. “Are you alright, mademoiselle?”

She dusted her clothes and stood straighter. “Yes, thank you.” She gave him an obvious once over, before dropping to one knee and grabbing his hand. “You seem to be a capable man. Would you marry me?”

He blinked at her in surprise, unused to being the one pursued, before giving her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, milady, but I love all women equally and I can’t be tied down to just one.”

“4453!” Echoed the two unknown pirates.

“Four thousand… What?” Asked Nami.

“Let me introduce myself, I’m Lola.”
“Better known as Mariage Proposal Lola.” Interjected one of the pirates, sporting a black mask covering his hair.
“Captain of the Rolling Pirates.” Said the other, his long hair in disarray.
“I’m in a quest to find true love, and have been rejected 4453 times since I left home.”
“And we’re the Risky Brothers, here to assist her in her quest!” The Risky Brothers said together.

“Then I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours, milady, even if I can’t be the one you are looking for.” Sanji said, before introducting himself and his crewmates.

“You will definitely find your one true love if you keep persevering.” Nami said.

“It’s… It’s so beautiful, so romantic...” Franky started to cry in the background.

“Not him.” Nami said quickly before Lola had done more than turn her head toward the shipwright. “He’s a dumbass, trust me. Every woman deserve someone that will treat her like the queen she is.”

“I know, love isn’t something that can be rushed or forced. I’ll keep on looking for the man of my dream.”

Chopper wrinkled his nose at the talk of romance. It was a concept definitely human and one he hadn’t quite grasped yet. He looked around, not wanting someone to take them by surprise because they were distracted, and noticed something when he looked back at the group.

“You don’t have shadows either?” He asked, staring at the ground near Lola’s feet.

“No. I have been looking for my zombie for a long time, but I have been unable to find it. You’re lucky only one of you lost their shadow.” Lola said, noticing that only Sanji’s had been stolen. “Do you want to join the VA?”

“The what?”

“The Thriller Bark Victim Association! Our crew and the other survivors of the island have decided to create a support group for everyone that has gotten their shadow stolen by Gecko Moria. We try to defeat zombies and capture their shadows, and we also have an annual bake sale to raise funds. You three haven’t gotten your shadow stolen, but you can be honorary members!”

“There’s no need. Our captain is going to defeat Moria.”

The Risky Brothers looked at each others at Nami’s proclamation, before turning to the Straw Hats with unconvinced face. “Nobody can defeat Gecko Moria.” The shorter one said.

“A lot of people have tried.” Continue the taller one.

“Most people can’t even reach him, they get stopped either by the General Zombies or the Mysterious Four.” Lola finished.

“What are the Mysterious Four?” She could guess what the General Zombies were, it was in the name.

“Moria is technically one of them, but he rarely come out to face people on his own. The others are Perona, who can create ghost-” “So she’s the one responsible…” “-Absalom, who is in charge of the General Zombies, and Hogback, the one who creates them.” “We’ve met him.”

“Your captain doesn’t have a chance of succeding.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate Luffy, he’s not going to lose, especially not to a Shichibukai. There’s no way Moria will get one over him.”

“This isn’t why we’re here.” Sanji said. “One of our friend, the beautiful Robin, has been kidnapped. Have you seen anything, or know where we can look for her? Someone more knowledgeable than us about this island told us we should try looking behind that big building.”

“I haven’t heard anything, but we’re generally the last ones to be informed of anything interesting happening here. I know Absalom has been moving around a lot lately because we’ve been taking measures to avoid him, but that’s not unusual when a crew land here. The last I’ve seen him, he was moving toward the mausoleum, which is right behind that tower. It’s probably were your friend was directing you.”

“Then it’s where we need to go. Thank you for the help, Lola!” Nami said.

“Be careful, Absalom is Moria’s strongest fighter. I heard he was once human, but now he’s as much of a monster as the zombies.” Lola warned. “You might want to-” She cut off when Sanji blurred off to the side, leg raised to intercept the incoming zombie. The penguin had apparently shaken off the earlier attack and decided to come back for more, and had made the mistake of targeting Nami.

“That’s twice you’ve aimed for a lady, shithead,” Sanji said.

The zombie scowled—and Nami took it back, it wasn’t just a penguin, it was a mix between a penguin and a bulldog and far uglier than its base animals—before grunting “It doesn’t matter if they’re ladies, anyone that stands against Master Moria deserves to be eliminated.”

Nami’s eyebrows rose. The voice wasn’t exactly the same, and the speech made her doubt, but it almost sounded like…

“You-” Sanji’s heel collided with the zombie’s head, smashing it against the ground. “-shitheads-” He didn’t give it time to get back up, kept on kicking him again. “-should really stop-” His foot caught on fire, smashing with enough force against the body that the stitches connecting the bulldog part to the penguin one ripped apart. “-trying your luck attacking women!”

It let out a miserable whine—even the dog whine and the puppy eyes weren’t enough to make it cute in Nami’s opinion, especially now that it had basically been ripped in half—its little feet paddling uselessly against the dirt, Sanji’s attack having buried him half a meter deep.

“Open your mouth wide, doggo,” Nami said, holding her closed hand in front of its face.

“Uh?” The zombie’s tongue fell out of its mouth as it instinctively opened its mouth, and Nami dropped the salt held in her palm in it.

The results were immediate, the shadows swirling away from it, circling the group twice over their heads, before rushing back and landing at Sanji’s feet, retaking its form and shape.

“Neat,” Sanji commented.

“That was Sanji’s shadow?” Chopper asked in shock.

“It wasn’t anything like you bro!”

“It seems like the shadows don’t keep our personality,” Sanji said.

“Thankfully, neither did it keep your strength.”

“You have unbelievable luck!” Lola shouted, grabbing Nami’s hand when she turned to face her. “And you’re strong as well, that zombie wasn’t one of the weak ones we’re capable of dealing with. Maybe you really have a chance of winning against Moria and Absalom...”

“I told you you shouldn’t underestimate us.” Nami reminded with a smile.

Lola glanced back at her two crewmates. “It would be remiss of us not to help you in any way we can! We can help you while you look for your friend. We might not be as strong as you, but I can call a few more members of my crew and we can keep an eye on the forest, ensure the weaker zombies don't bother you.”

“We’d be thankful for any help you can give us, Lola.” Nami readily agreed.

~~One Piece~~

Absalom stood at the altar, his heart pounding in his chest. He was surrounded by the General Zombies, all gathered as witnesses, but the strength of his emotions made him feel separated from them, alone in the large room.

He was wearing his best clothes, his thoughts solely focused on the woman he was about to marry, his mind awhirl with memories. He remembered the first time he had seen her, lying on her deckchair, the way her long fingers had moved a raven lock behind her ear; the moment the Spider Mices had bought her to Moria, how she had been as beautiful unconscious as she was awake.

His knees were shaking in anticipation of the moment she would appear, a vision of beauty and grace in her white gown, more stunning than-

The sound of a glass breaking interrupted his fantasy, and Abaslom whirled around to face the assembly of zombies gathered around the tables where alcohol and food had been laid. “STOP DRINKING ALL THE ALCOHOL, YOU BASTARDS!” He roared.

None of the zombies needed to eat and drink, but they had been awakened from their slumber to see a marriage none cared about, so they were passing time the only way they could.

With unhappy grumbles, they stepped away from the alcohol, unable to disobey a direct order from one of the Mysterious Four.

“Couldn’t you at least fake happiness? It’s my lucky day!” Absalom growled.

“Hmrr...”

He deflated at the unenthusiastic response. “As I was saying. Her stunning dress will sparkle in the light as she looks at me with love in her eyes-”

The door imploded, shards of wood flying through the room with enough force to be embedded in the stone walls. “Who dares interrupt my marriage before it even starts!” He shouted.

Standing in the middle of the entrance was Sanji. Despite his outfit being casual and not as fancy as some he could wear, having left his suit jacket behind when they had been brought back to the Sunny and his white tie hanging loose around his neck, he was the best-dressed person in the room and looked far more than Absalom like a groom. On the other side of the aisle, despite dressing in fancy clothes, Absalom didn’t look as put together.

It wasn’t just their clothes; Absalom was as much of a monster as Lola had warned, with parts of various animals grafted over his skin. Scars stretched around his face, his mouth replaced by that of a lion, red eyes narrowed into slits. In front of him, Sanji looked classically handsome, if you ignored the eyebrows.

On Sanji’s left stood Franky, fist held in front of him in a classic boxer posture. To his right was Chopper in Heavy Point, arms held up to each side of his head to show his muscles.

“Marriage?” Sanji repeated, tone dangerous, the incredulity showing on his face betraying that he hadn’t been expecting this. He took a step forward and away from his crewmates, and the zombies in the room finally reacted, putting down their plates and glasses to grab their weapons.

“What did you do to Nico Robin?” Franky asked. They had thought Moria had kept Robin secreted away somewhere, to be used for her ability to read Poneglyphs, but this seemed far more sinister.

“That’s my future wife you’re talking about. Don’t use her name so casually.”

A sharp inhale, which Franky release slowly, and he walked forward as well, stopping next to Sanji. “We’ll take care of those.” He said, eyeing the zombies around the room. “Kick him extra hard for me.”

“I’ll kick him extra hard for myself,” Sanji said, feet exploding in a burst of flames. “AND FOR ROBIN-CHAN!”

“I still don’t know how he does that...” Chopper muttered, staring at his burning crewmate.

~~One Piece~~

As soon as they heard the battle start in the main room, Nami and Lola glanced at each other and with a nod of agreement, slipped inside the back of the building. They could hear a zombie muttering to himself about fabrics and color coordination as they crept inside an empty corridor and stood on each side of a half-open door. The rest of the Rolling Pirates were standing guard outside while the two of them tried to find Robin, aware that they were too weak to be more than a distraction and that this mission required stealth.

Lola was just as silent as Nami as she moved despite her larger size, and Nami wondered for a moment what type of pirate crew she led. They seemed to be good people, willing to help strangers despite being in trouble themselves, and while they were as weird as everyone else on this sea, Lola, at least, seemed competent. She wasn’t strong enough, or maybe was too afraid, to go against the Mysterious Four but her crew had barely protested her going inside the mausoleum without them and showed that they trusted her abilities despite having gotten trapped on Thriller Bark under her orders.

They both glanced inside the room through the small opening to see the zombie they had been hearing moving around the room. It was surprisingly human looking, if you ignored the slightly yellowed color of its skin, and it was moving around Robin’s unconscious body. The archeologist was laying on a chair, her head lolling to the side as the zombie flitted around her, a measuring tape in hand as he took notes in a notebook. The room was filled with scraps of cloth, a white dress hanging against the far wall. The zombie turned its back to the door as he moved closer to the dress, readjusting the necklines with a needle and white thread.

It didn’t have the time to do any more changes. The two women had in an instant crossed the room, Lola grabbing the zombie and forcing salt inside his mouth while Nami rushed toward Robin. She quickly ensured that she hadn’t been harmed, and felt relieved not to see any signs of someone having gotten rough with her.

“Robin. Robin!” She called, shaking her shoulders to no response.

“She’s not waking up,” Lola said.

“They might have drugged her to ensure she wouldn’t wake,” Nami said, noticing the lack of restraints on her. Moria had to have recognized her—if Enies Lobby had taught them one thing, it was that the rest of the world wanted to use Robin for her abilities and didn’t care how much they had to do to get their hands on her—and if he knew of her reputation he wouldn’t have let her without putting sea-stone on her if he wasn’t sure she would stay unconscious.

‘We need to get out of here’ she thought as the sound of fighting got louder. She could try to carry Robin, they were roughly the same height and she was used to carrying motionless objects from all of her shopping sprees. Even if she couldn’t, Lola certainly looked strong enough to do it.

But she still wanted to wake her up before the fight was over. Robin deserved to take her revenge on the ones that had put her in this situation, and Nami wasn’t going to be the one to fail to provide it to her.

“Robin!” She repeated, patting her cheeks. “Don’t make me slap you, Robin.”

“I don’t think you’re going to wake her up like that,” Lola commented.

“Hmm. If physical violence doesn’t work...” She trailed off, brows furrowed, before gasping dramatically. “Is that a Poneglyph?” She shrieked, not noticing Lola’s surprised reaction.

Robin jerked as if struck by lightning and would have rolled off the chair if Nami hadn’t managed to grab her in time. “Where?” She gasped, grabbing Nami’s arm. Her turquoise eyes struggled to focus for a moment—her pupils were blown wide, a sign that she had definitely been drugged—but after a few seconds, she recognized Nami and her grip softened.

“Nami. What happened?” She looked around the room curiously.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I was fighting that zombie, Cindry...” She shook her head. “Everything after that is just a blank.” She looked down at herself, noticing immediately what was missing. “It seems Moria got his hands on me.”

“He got Luffy and Sanji, as well. We already got Sanji’s shadow back, and Luffy is facing Moria so you won’t have to wait too long. We’re still dealing with the other members of his crews, but the zombies are easy to defeat, you just need to-”

“-feed them salt.” Robin interrupted, shakily getting to her feet.

“Right. Luffy and Sanji got sent back to the Sunny after Moria got them, but you weren’t. I can get some idea of what they were trying to do with you.” She said with a disgusted glance toward the dress.

“I’d like to see the ones responsible.” Her calm tone fooled no one in the room.

~~One Piece~~

Inside the mausoleum, the fight wasn’t going well.

Chopper and Franky were holding their own against the General Zombies, but they couldn’t take the time to defeat them for good; as soon as one zombie was momentarily down, another two took its place. They could only hold them back while Sanji fought Absalom.

Absalom had quickly used his powers and turned invisible, which had seemed to rile up Sanji more than he already was, and Chopper was worrying for his health. All those sudden combustions couldn’t be good for him.

Sanji appeared right next to Chopper as he punched another zombie into the ground, knowing it would only give him a few moments of respite before the zombie shook off his shock and rose up again, and shouted “Chopper, get small!”

Chopper obeyed, just in time for a large bullet to pass just above his head, exploding against the wall.

“Wha-”

“The bastard is using his powers to hide bazookas.” Sanji was scowling, eyes scanning the chaotic room. “Fight me face to face, you coward!” He shouted, kicking the zombie at their feet in frustration and burying him a few meters into the ground. Well, that was one way to ensure he wouldn’t get back up soon.

Absalom reappeared on the other side of the room, outside of Sanji’s range.

“So he’s the one who kidnapped me?” Robin asked as she entered the room.

“Ah! My future wife!” Absalom shouted, shocked to see her awake.

“Robin-chan!” Sanji exclaimed in relief, Chopper and Franky echoing him. His eyes rover over her, taking notes of every detail. The slight differences from her usual appearance were enough to almost make him fly into a blinding rage.

Her normally loose hair had been tied up in a ponytail, with two locks of hair framing her face. ‘Someone had dared put their hands on her!’

“Are you alright?” Chopper asked her.

“I am fine. Angry, but fine.”

‘Ohh...’ Sanji glanced at Absalom from the corner of his eyes, keeping most of his attention on Robin. He wanted to kick him into oblivion, and Robin should never have to sully her hands fighting someone like him but… If she wanted to… And she was strong and independent, she might not like Sanji taking over her battle… But he could see how she listed to the side, still feeling the aftereffects of whatever had been done to her.

He wanted to take care of this for her.

“Let me?” He asked, tilting his head toward Absalom. She scrutinized his expression, knowing what he was asking for. It was the tone of his voice, the openness of his expression, the way he hadn’t demanded but asked that convinced her.

She could see that he wasn’t offering to beat Absalom up for her because he thought she wasn’t capable of doing it on her own, or because he thought she was supposed to stay on the sideline while the men of the crew fought. No, he was offering because he was angry on her behalf, because he hoped to make her life just a little better by beating him up, and because he wanted to make himself useful. If she refused, he would take care of the zombies around the room with extreme prejudice and she trusted that he wouldn’t try to interfere in her fight.

He really was a selfless idiot. “Thank you, Sanji-kun.” She smiled at him, fondness breaking through the blank expression that she had been using to hide her anger.

Chapter Text

With Robin having accepted to leave the fight to him, Sanji had no hang-ups about turning his attention fully to the waste of a human being—if he could even be called human—that had abducted her. Absalom had sputtered and had tried to protest Robin being awake, saying that she would become his wife and she needed to stay put, which had earned him a roundhouse kick to the torso so strong his body had broken through the wall and had been sent flying into the forest, leaving a trail of broken trees behind.

Sanji had run after him, disappearing into the fog and leaving the others to take care of the General Zombies.

Franky was going toe to toe with one of the rare zombies wearing armor. It was as tall as him and far larger, its lower body not one of a human but of an elephant. Their hands were locked against each other as they grappled, each trying to use raw strength to destabilize their opponent.

Seeing that they wouldn’t go anywhere if they continued like that, the enhanced strength of the zombie enough to match his own, Franky tugged one of his hands-free as he took a step back, using the space between them to get momentum for his headbutt. The iron armor was no match for Franky’s steel-reinforced forehead, and it caved under the impact. He used his free hand to grab the zombie's long beard, moved his feet apart for more stability, and with a roar started to turn around, quickly gaining speed and making the trapped zombie fly around him.

“Franky Strike!” He shouted as he released his hold, the zombie flying and hitting a group of his fellow undead, bowling them down.

Further inside the room, Robin was fighting against a swordsman. This particular zombie was fighting with one sword despite having a second one hanging from his belt, his second hand far too busy holding a bottle of alcohol from which he was regularly drinking. Despite his split attention—she had noticed how he never spilled even a drop of liquid—he was keeping up with her attacks without difficulties.

She was suffering from the one problem she had met since reaching this island: most of her opponents' bodies were too strong for her to damage, and the few times the circumstances aligned and she managed to break a bone or tear a limb away, the zombie simply walked it off. Her Devil Fruit allowed her to increase her strength tenfold, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t a problem she had faced before getting this far in the Grand Line, and she knew she would soon need to find a solution before every enemy managed to overpower her.

The zombie she was facing tried to take another swallow from his bottle, shaking it over his face when nothing flowed out, and with a disappointed expression despite his face having been sewed into a permanent grin he threw the bottle blindly behind him.

The glass broke as it hit another zombie in the face, a shard embedding itself into one of its eyes, which didn’t seem to bother him. “Oi, John!” The zombie shouted, waving his fist toward him menacingly.

John… Suddenly Robin understood why the zombie had seemed familiar to her before. There had been fewer scars on his body at the time, but there was no mistaking that gaunt face and long pink hair. The colors of his wanted poster had faded by the time she had found the article in an old newspaper, but the pale shade of pink had still stood out. She only remembered it because his death had been a mystery for a long time.

The famous captain John. He had been a legendary pirate before even Roger and Whitebeard had become famous, in part because of the large fortune he had amassed and hidden somewhere on the Grand Line. He and his crew had decimated entire countries through their lootings until his crew had declared mutiny as his greed grew too much even for them. They had objected to his keeping most of the spoils to himself and had tried to make him reveal where he had hidden his treasure, but he had refused to talk and had taken his secret to the grave.

“Captain John.” She said, surprised that such a famous pirate had ended up in Gecko Moria’s clutches.

“Hmm? Lady, do you have rum?” He took a step toward her, and it was only because Robin knew better than to let her guard down that she ducked under the flying slash in time.

Captain John had been a monster in the time before monsters became commonplace. If he had still been alive and not a shadow of his former self—pun intended—she doubted she would have been able to avoid that attack, let alone survive for as long as she had.

Her instincts also warned her in time to avoid the spear which barely missed decapitating her, and she turned to look at Chopper, taking a few steps back to keep Captain John in her sight. Chopper looked just as shocked as her at the near miss, eyes wide and mouth open as he looked at the crater the spear had left in the wall behind Robin.

“Sorry, I dodged.” He explained, punching the large boar zombie that had thrown the spear and was trying to attack him while his back was turned.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said. The room was rather cramped with everyone fighting together, and she was only glad Sanji had taken his fight outside. At least all of their enemies were visible and they didn’t have to worry about an invisible one running around.

~~One Piece~~

Unseen by all inside the room, only Robin being aware of her presence as they had devised that plan together, Nami was crouching under one of the windows to stay hidden.

She had her clima-tact in hand and was slowly and discreetly creating thunder balls, the black cloud which no one had noticed steadily growing against the ceiling.

~~One Piece~~

“You interrupted the preparations for my wedding, and now you’re trying to take me away from my bride?”

“Robin isn’t your anything, and certainly not your bride.”

“I don’t have time to waste fighting such weaklings-” “

“Shut up! Concassé” Sanji's feet smashed into Absalom’s skull, creating a large pit where he had been standing as the impact buried him a few meters deep into the ground. “First you attacked Drake and Robin on the Sunny, then you kidnapped Robin and tried to take her as your wife...”

“I’m not the one who kidnapped her,” Absalom growled out, fingers digging into the dirt as he slowly rose up out of his hole. Sanji noted his resilience. He seemed more pissed off than hurt by that kick, which would have killed a lesser man. “Moria wanted her for her shadow and her brain, and I decided to keep her body for myself.”

Sanji’s teeth snapped clean through his cigarette. “I don’t think you understand what’s happening here. You’re not going to get out of this fight alive.”

“We’ll see! Hand of the dead.” Abaslom pointed one of his hands toward Sanji, using the other to keep himself upright. He let out a surprised sound when Sanji’s foot landed against his forearm. Or, more precisely, a few centimeters under his forearm.

“The fact that I kicked away your second bazooka didn’t give it away? I know exactly what you’re capable of. Every strategy you have ever thought of, I had imagined years ago. You won’t be able to trick me!” He used his other foot to kick him in the head, pinning Absalom’s arm to the ground and sending a barrage of kicks toward him. “Come on, repeat what you just said about a marriage, shitstain!”

With a pained groan, Absalom managed to release the leather strap tying the bazooka to his arm, and leaving his weapon behind rolled away, using a small break between Sanji’s kicks to escape.

“Shit!” He cursed as he turned invisible, running away from Sanji. He needed a few moments to regroup and then he would—BLAM!

“Grrk”

“Don’t think I’ll let you escape that easily!” Sanji shouted.

“But- but I’m invisible-” He protested, turning back visible and holding a hand to his quickly swelling cheek.

“As if I need to see you to kick your sorry ass!”

‘He definitely deserves that 85 million bounty.’ Absalom thought as he spat out blood and strugglingly climbed to his feet. ‘But we have defeated crews in which the captain was worth more than that.’ Deciding to ignore that this wasn’t the captain.

“You really are unlucky.” Sanji continued as he grabbed a new cigarette from his pack. “Not only did you decide to attack our crew, but you also have to face me as your opponent.” The cigarette spontaneously caught fire in his hand, quickly followed by the rest of his body. “I won’t ever forgive you for what you’ve done. I won’t forgive you for having stolen my dream!”

“Uh?” Absalom blinked in surprise. Stole his dream? Nobody had escaped from Thriller Bark since they had set up there, and he didn’t remember ever facing him. He would have remembered the eyebrows if nothing else. “I’ve never seen you before.”

“And yet...” Sanji’s flames flared even hotter. “The Clear-Clear Fruit. It allows you not only to render your body invisible, but you can also decide to make everything you touch invisible as well.”

“How do you know so much?” Absalom shouted.

“I’ve never been interested in eating a Devil Fruit, but ever since I laid eyes on the illustrated Devil Fruit encyclopedia, there was one exception I could see myself make. One fruit, that would make sacrificing my ability to swim worth it. I read everything I could on it and still can remember every word, and even as a young child I started to daydream about what I would be able to do if I had that fruit. But there was one thing, one thing, that would be able to crush my dream… And that is meeting someone who had already eaten that fruit!”

“Uh?”

“Since there is only one fruit of each kind existing at any given time in this world, if I saw someone who had those abilities I coveted… Then it meant that my dream was over. And that fruit name was-”

“The Clear-Clear Fruit,” Absalom said in a deadpan.

Sanji jerked in surprise as his passionate speech was interrupted, the flames fading around him.

“Ah, right. Right! The Clear-Clear Fruit!” He shouted, finding back his rhythm. “The one fruit that would allow me to-”

“Peep on women.”

“Hrnk. N-no, of course not-”

“There’s only one reason a man would want that fruit so much.”

“It doesn’t matter! You stole my dream, and you used my fruit for such despicable purpose as to spy on Robin-chan on the Sunny.”

“It’s not your fruit… And that reason is stupid.”

“No, it’s not!”

“Hate me for the thing I’ve done, damnit! Not just for having my fruit! I was going to marry your crewmate, that has to count more than having eaten something decades ago!”

“Right. Let’s talk about that.” Sanji tapped his foot against the floor a few times, not missing the way Absalom's face fell as he immediately regretted opening his mouth.

~~One Piece~~

Following the giant zombie wasn’t hard. It wasn’t like it was possible to miss a zombie bigger than most buildings. He was walking around, destroying buildings left and right and apparently looking for a cool hat while searching for the rest of the Straw Hats pirates, according to his muttered comments loud enough to be heard from the ground.

Hidden behind the ruins of what had once been a house before being crushed by a careless foot, Drake peered over the remnants of a wall, ducking back when he saw that he was looking at the ground around him.

“Why are we following it.” Usopp hissed from next to him.

“Because he might find someone from the crew, and I’m not confident everyone will be as lucky as us and manage to escape him,” Drake answered in the same tone.

“We won’t be able to do anything if he sees anyone.” Usopp protested.

“We can act as a distraction.” He pointed out.

“I think I just caught the I-can’t-act-as-distraction disease.”

Drake send him a look, to which Usopp deflated. “… Right. I might have some projectiles flashy enough to distract him for a time. Think we can just send salt directly to his mouth?” They knew about the zombies’ weaknesses, and if something as simple as salt could defeat the giant and they didn’t have to fight it it was all the better.

“It might work. Let’s not risk it now, but if you can try to send salt without getting his attention don’t hesitate.”

“I’ll try… Do we even have an idea of where he is going? The others should be safe high up fighting Moria, and Sanji’s group should be searching for Robin and not out in the open.”

“I don’t think he’s searching methodically, he’s just walking around. But it’s Luffy shadow we’re talking about, so he might just find them by sheer luck.”

~~One Piece~~

Zwip!

Another thunder ball flew from Nami’s clima-tact into the growing cloud covering the mausoleum’s ceiling. She only needed a few more, and then she would be able to unleash lighting bolts strong enough to take down every zombie inside at once.

She knew the thunder wouldn’t be enough to defeat the zombies; from what they had gathered, other than salt, only a large amount of physical damage, too much for the body to keep its shape, resulted in the shadows leaving their zombies and flying back to their true owner, leaving the zombies defeated. Her attack would deep fry them, but thunder wasn’t capable of the kind of heat that would char a body. She would also never unleash such a dangerous attack near her friend if she had the means to do it.

Robin was aware of her plan, as they had designed it together, and must have by now found a way to warn Chopper and Franky.

Zwip!

The cloud was barely keeping its shape, overloaded with electricity that only asked to be unleashed. And who was Nami to delay it any further?

“The weather is cloudy...” She whispered under her breath, just loud enough for the ear Robin had created on her shoulder to catch the sentence. “With chances of lightning. Thunder Ball Tempo!”

~~One Piece~~

Absalom had been really proud of his body. He had bragged to Sanji about how Hogback had changed it to give it attributes from a variety of animals that would make him unable to be defeated.

Sanji wasn’t impressed. Elephant skin? Gorilla muscle? Under his feet, it didn’t make a difference.

Absalom had tried a series of tricks, getting more desperate to run away the longer the fight went, instead of trying to attack Sanji as he had been at the start. Not that Sanji was allowing him to leave. No, he was determined to turn him into a paste.

Absalom roared. “Stop-” Sanji leaned to the side, dodging his fist. “-kicking me!”

“No.”

“I’m- I’m Moria’s strongest fighter, one of the Mysterious Four! You can’t compare to my strength!”

“Your strength?” Sanji repeated as he blocked a punch with his leg. “Don’t make me laugh. I’ve seen a swordsman that punches harder than you.” Honestly, if he really was the strongest fighter on the island and it wasn’t just baseless bragging, this was already in the bag.

‘Then again,’ he thought as he kicked Absalom so hard he heard his skull crack, and the enhanced human twitched weakly against the floor, ‘maybe we’re just that strong.’

Absalom’s fingers moved as he tried to get back to his feet but found out his body no longer obeyed him.

“Honestly… That barely took the edge off my anger.” Sanji sighed, looking down at the enemy on the floor.

“Don’t… underestimate us...”

“Yeah, yea-” He cut off as he jerked his head back, a dagger passing where his eye had been just a moment before and cutting a lock of hair.

“Alright. I’m done playing. Diable Jambe: Mouton Shot!” His leg catching fire, he jumped and flipped a few times in the air, accumulating speed and strength, delivering a barrage of kicks at Absalom too quick for the eye to see.

He raised an eyebrow, almost expecting Absalom to still be twitching under him, but the enhanced human apparently had had enough and was lying unconscious on the ground, feet marks covering his body.

“Hmph.” He scoffed, not impressed. This guy had stolen his Devil Fruit, his one chance to pe- no, he was stronger than that. He didn't need a Devil Fruit, he would find his way to peep on his own. “Now, let’s go back to Nami-san and Robin-chan. Here I come, lovelies!”

With a skip in his step at a fight well done, he started to make his way back to the mausoleum. “Maybe Robin will give me a kiss for having fought well...” He twirled on himself at the idea, almost losing his footing when the ground shook under him. “What was that?” He wondered out loud, as another thud made the forest around him tremble, the trees’ rare leaves falling to the ground.

‘It almost sounds like-’ thud ‘footsteps. But for someone to produce footsteps that loud, they must be truly gigantic. The others are in danger!’

This time he truly rushed back, following the trail of broken trees to take the shortest path. The building quickly appeared through the fog, and he let out a breath of relief at seeing it still standing when a fist larger than the building smashed into it and crushed it.

Chapter Text

A minute earlier.

“Everybody run!” Drake shouted as he ran into the mausoleum, Usopp hot on his heels.

Chopper looked up from where he was putting salt into a half-charred zombie’s mouth. They were finishing the zombies by feeding them salt, except for Nami who was sitting and watching them work, looking smug, having reasoned that she had already done most of the work and it was their turn to do something. The scent of burned flesh was mixing with the one of ozone, creating an unpleasant odor, but he was starting to get used to it.

“We need to get away from here, right now!” Drake ordered.

Nami and Franky traded looks, surprised at their sudden arrival and frantic behavior.

“Drake, are you alright?” She asked, standing up and walking toward him in concern.

“Run!” Usopp gasped, having just found his breath after the sprint they had run. “Luffy’s shadow is here!” He explained.

“Oh. Alright, but why do we have to leave? We’ve met Sanji’s zombie, and he wasn’t that strong...” Nami said.

They didn’t have the time to explain! “Go, before-” The earth trembled under Drake’s feet, and he closed his eyes in dread. Shadow-Luffy, for lack of a better name, was already there.

He and Usopp had started to run toward their crewmates as soon as Drake had sensed their presence and that they were in the zombie’s path, but they hadn’t been able to get far ahead. Shadow-Luffy was simply too big, each footstep moving him a too big distance for them to outrun him. Now that he was close enough for them to feel his steps, he was also close enough to see them if they tried to make a run for the forest.

“Maybe he won’t find us?” Usopp suggested hopefully, the rest of the crew starting—far too late—to sport worried looks. “He hasn’t been searching through the buildings in his path, he’s just glancing inside of them… Is there somewhere we can hide?” He asked, turning toward the others.

“Hide? No, I haven’t seen anything.” Nami answered. Most rooms were filled with—now empty—graves, which wasn’t unusual for a mausoleum, but it wouldn’t hide them unless they were willing to bury themselves. “Lola and her crew are also in the building!” She gasped as she remember her newfound friend. The Rolling Pirates had been taking care of the weaker zombies in the rest of the building while they were dealing with the General Zombies.

Drake cursed as another tremor made the ground shake, Shadow-Luffy no doubt standing right next to them, and the ceiling crumbled over their head, a large hand grabbing a fistful of the roof to look inside the building.

Nami barely swallowed her cry of fear when she saw the size of the zombie standing above them, Chopper and Franky grabbed each other, their knees shaking, even Robin couldn’t stay indifferent, her eyes blown wide and her mouth slightly open in shock at the sight.

They had all seen giants before in their lives. Franky and Chopper at Enies Lobby, Nami both there and on Little Garden, Robin had even been friends with one as a child. None of those encounters had prepared them for the size of the zombie now peering at them.

“One, two, three… There are a lot of people here!” Shadow-Luffy commented, before noticing Usopp and Drake. “Hey, you two! Didn’t I kill you already?”

“Ah, yes,” Usopp answered panickedly in a high-pitched voice. “So, you don’t need to do it again?” He suggested.

“True.” The zombie agreed, a large index coming up to rub at the side of his forehead as he thought. Usopp started breathing again, incredulous that it was working- “But I haven’t killed the others with you, and I have to kill them too.”

“Run!” Usopp shouted as he raised his fist next to his head, readying a punch, and this time nobody hesitated, all immediately turning toward the nearest exit and making a run for it.

They wouldn’t make it. Drake was sure of it. Shadow-Luffy was too tall, had too big of a range, was moving too fast. He was going to flatten them all. More than just the crew, if Nami was right and there were other people in the building.

He whirled to face the zombie once more, its knuckles coming for them like an avalanche.

There was only one thing he could do to try to give them more time, time to run away and get to safety.

Green scales appeared over part of his body, his boots fading into nothingness as his feet transformed. He planted them firmly on the ground, his tail swinging behind him for balance.

He had been working on a new technique, a way to push his body beyond its limit, and there was no better moment to try it. The muscles in his arms bulged, almost doubling in size, straining against his jacket as he drew his right fist back. The knuckles were now close enough to fill entirely his view, and with a roar he threw a punch upward.

Their fist connected with each other.

The shockwave that resulted from both their momentum canceling so abruptly was enough to shake the entire building around him. They were both pushing, trying to force the other back, a shout of effort leaving Drake’s throat as he put all of his strength into ensuring the zombie’s hand wouldn’t move further downward.

Then, slowly, he began to push back, his body shaking from the strain. With a surge of power that tore through his muscles, he pushed the fist back, the giant recoiling, destabilized.

~~One Piece~~

The vibrations that shook the building were different than the ones before. Where they had previously been caused by steps—steps done by someone far too big—those definitely came from something large colliding against something else.

“No time to lose.” Zoro decided, drawing a sword to cut a hole through the outside wall, Brook not hesitating even a moment as he jumped after him. They landed on top of a smaller tower, the damp and titled roof almost sending Zoro careening down as his attention was diverted from his landing to the large figure visible in the distance.

“I can’t believe my eyes—though I don’t have eyes, yohoho! Skull joke!”

“It doesn’t make sense for someone to be this size.” The red zombie was truly enormous, not even their distance making it look smaller. They had found the source of all those shockwaves.

And Moria had said Luffy’s shadow was inside that zombie?

They were so fucked.

“There are people at his feet,” Brook said, and Zoro narrowed his eyes. The skeleton non-existent eyes had to be better than his because it took him a few moments to notice what he had been talking about. In the building right in front of Oars, through the large opening that had been blown into it, he could see people the size of ants.

Brightly colored ants. “It’s them.” There was no mistaking that blue or the two orange dots, Franky, Nami, and Drake’s hair visible from afar. A shiver of dread passed through his spine at seeing Oars standing so close to his crewmates, and he grabbed Shusui. “Time to see how well we work together. 36 Pound Phoenix.”

The flying slash flew through the air in Oars’ direction, but Zoro scowled before it could land. The attack hadn’t been as balanced as he had wanted, too much strength going into it at the start that would dissipate the further it flew. It clashed harmlessly against Oars’ skin, with just enough strength to get his attention. The giant turned toward them, taking a step back and away from the rest of the Straw Hats.

It barely took him a dozen steps before he was close enough to attack them, but Zoro and Brook hadn’t waited for him to punch the tower they had been standing on to jump down. Zoro landed on his feet and took off in a sprint in the direction of his crewmates, Brook crashing face-first into the ground next to him but quickly getting back up.

“Zoro, I don’t think I’ve ever been more glad to see you.” Usopp cried as they reached the mostly destroyed building. “I don’t think Drake could have stopped him a second time...”

“Drake!” Chopper shouted, getting out of the rubble the shockwave had thrown him into and rushing toward his friend. “Are you alright? Did you get hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Drake answered, holding his left hand in Chopper’s direction as he tried to free his legs from the ground they had sunk into, the stone floor having cracked under his feet. Chopper removed his glove, checked that his fingers were all moving correctly, and when he didn’t see any sign of injury he nodded in satisfaction before running toward Zoro, jumping and clutching the side of his head and crying about how he had been so scared.

“That wasn’t the right hand,” Franky commented in a low voice as he crouched next to him to help free his legs. Chopper might not have paid attention at the time, but Franky had clearly seen Drake pushing back the giant with the right arm, not the left one. Drake glanced at him from the corner of his eyes before looking away.

“I didn’t want to worry him when there isn’t anything he can do. He’ll fix me once we’re done with this hellhole.” Chopper only had his small bag with him, and while it would be enough to stabilize his injuries it wouldn’t give him back the use of his arm in time to keep fighting. He’d rather he save the resources in case someone else needed them later. The day wasn’t over yet.

“You’ll be alright?” If there was one thing good about Franky, it was that he wasn’t judgmental about others' decisions, even—especially—when they were stupid. He wasn’t going to run and tell Chopper that Drake was more injured than he had let on.

He grimaced in answer. He had felt his muscles and tendons tear under the strain and would have been unable to move his arm even if his elbow hadn’t popped out of its socket. The bones in his right hand had also been reduced to shards, and he was almost afraid to see what would happen if he tried to turn his hand back into a normal human one.

“Don’t wait too long,” Franky said, correctly interpreting his reaction. He knew better than most that some injuries couldn’t be fixed if you didn’t have access to immediate healthcare.

~~One Piece~~

“You’re alive!” Nami barely had the time to jerk her head up at the familiar voice before she had an armful of Sanji. “When I saw the punch… I was so scared.” She blinked in surprise at the honesty in his voice, his face hidden against her shoulder, his arms trembling against her back. It took him only a moment to pull himself back together, and he released her to drop to one knee. “How would I survive without seeing your radiance every morning?”

“Is everyone alright?”
“I was sure you all would be dead!”
“I felt my heart stop when I saw that zombie!”

Lola and the Risky Brothers rushed into the room with loud shouts.

“Gecko Moria named him Oars,” Brook said, pointing at the giant who was still turning on himself, trying to see where Zoro and Brook had gone. The Risky Brothers shouted in fright at the sight of a talking skeleton, Lola only blinking in surprise. “He’s the one with Luffy’s shadow.”

“We can’t afford to wait for Luffy to take down Moria. We’ll have to defeat Oars on our own.” Zoro said.

“If you can prevent him from moving too much and keep him distracted long enough for me to find a good sniping spot, I can try to feed him salt from a distance.” Usopp proposed, opening his satchel to show the bag of salt he hadn’t used yet.

“That gives us one strategy. Nami?”

“I’ll cover him.” She nodded in Zoro's direction, moving to stand next to Usopp. “Come on, let’s leave this place before Oars gets back.”

“While Usopp and Nami do their things, let’s try to take him down the old-fashioned way, alright?” They nodded in agreement and Zoro turned to face the giant, who had either seen Zoro and Brook from afar or decided to go back to what he was doing before and was walking back toward them.

He grabbed his sword, getting Drake’s attention. “That’s a new one.” He commented as he saw the new sword, its blade mostly black with a hint of purple on the cutting edge, noticing for the first time that he had a fourth scabbard attached to his hips.

Zoro scowled. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

Drake nodded in understanding. He took advantage of Chopper looking away to pop his elbow back into its socket before grabbing his axe in his left hand. ‘Given how often one of my arms gets hurt, maybe I should learn to wield a sword in my mouth like him...’

“If Usopp needs him to stay immobile, we can try to blow out one of his knees. Even if none of us are strong enough to do it on our own, we should manage with a combined attack.” Sanji suggested.

“It won’t do any good unless you literally destroy his knee.” Chopper immediately pointed out. “He’s a zombie, he can’t feel pain. He’ll keep on walking without even noticing that something went wrong.”

“So we can’t count on what would normally immobilize someone through pain.” Summarized Sanji.

“Even if they don’t feel it, the zombies' bodies can still get damaged. Maybe Oars will be able to walk despite a couple of broken bones, but if we shatter every bone in his leg he won’t be able to use it.” Drake pointed out.

“It won’t be easy damaging such a large body… If it was smaller, I could try breaking his spine, but I can’t create enough limbs to do that.” She wasn’t at full strength, she could feel the hint of a headache behind her eyes from having been drugged, and the sound of Nami’s thunder attack hadn’t helped.

“Robin has the right idea,” Chopper exclaimed. “Nothing can move with a broken spine.”

“Let’s try to do that then. How can we break the spine of something that big?” Franky asked. They couldn’t simply brute force it, they had to be strategic to do the necessary damage.

“When I do a clutch,” Robin started to explain, making a couple of arms appear over her own back for a demonstration, “I drag the shoulders backward while pushing the middle of the spine forward.” Her arms moved, showing how the move forcefully strengthened her back. “With a straight spine, a strong enough pressure can easily shatter it.”

“So we’ll need two people to hit his shoulders at the same time as someone hit his back,” Sanji said. “We can’t apply continuous pressure like Robin-chan would do, we’ll need to be in sync.”

“And we need before that to try to stop him from moving, or at least slow him down long enough to land the attack, because he might try to back away if he sees us aiming for him,” Robin added.

“I can cut through his skin, what do you say about hamstringing him?” Zoro said, turning toward Brook who nodded in agreement. He wasn’t sure he would manage to cut through both the skin and the tendons behind on his own, but with Brook's help they were sure to do enough damage. Even if he had barely seen Brook’s abilities—he didn’t count his fight against Ryuma, because the zombie had taken more from his body than his shadow—he seemed to be competent enough with a sword.

“I’ll need help to get enough altitude, but I can take one of the shoulders.” Drake offered. Climbing the side of the nearby tower would take far too long with only one arm, but with Robin's help he would be able to do it quickly enough.

“I’ll help you up.” She said.

“Me and Chopper will take the back.” Their styles complemented each other well, and with both of them punching Oars at the same time, they were bound to be strong enough to force his back straight.

“Then we’re set,” Sanji said, knowing that it left him with the other shoulder.

He hadn’t had any success yet in using Cipher Pol’s technique that allowed them to walk on air, and Drake hadn’t been able to help him—he had admitted that he could do one or two steps, but he didn’t have the proper technique since he had apparently learned by getting thrown off windows until he could save himself, a whisper of Garp’s name having been enough to deter Sanji from asking further questions—but with a glance in Zoro’s direction, he knew the swordsman heard his unvoiced question and nodded in answer.

Franky cracked his knuckles. “Let’s go!” he shouted, and they moved all at once.

Drake moved toward the building, jumping as high as he could, left claws digging without resistance into the stone. Before he could try to pull himself up, a couple of arms appeared around him, supporting his weight and helping him climb.

Zoro, Brook, Chopper, and Franky ran in Oars' direction, slipping between his feet and getting behind him. Zoro quickly turned around, holding two of his swords in front of him, the inside of his wrist facing each other. “Three Sword Style” Shusui almost destabilized the attack but he forcefully contained its strength, keeping both him and Yubashiri at the same speed. “Three Thousand Worlds!” Three large gashes appeared over Oars’s leg, slashing right to the bone. Brook’s own attack followed into one of the wounds, bisecting the bone in half in the middle of his calf.

Oars stumbled as the two parts of his bone moved against each other, not feeling any pain but still feeling his leg move in an unnatural way under his weight.

Zoro continued running toward Sanji, who jumped up and landed on the flat of his blades. With the help of the swordsman's push, he jumped high enough to reach Oars’ head.

Chopper and Franky reached the middle of Oars’ back, the hastily built staircase falling into pieces under their feet as they leaped forward and threw their strongest punch on Oars’ spine. The impact was enough to put Oars in the correct position, the zombie turning his head to try to see what was happening behind him.

Simultaneously, Drake and Sanji attacked, Drake’s axe tearing off a large chunk of flesh from one of Oars’ shoulders while Sanji’s kick dislocated the other one.

The sound of multiple bones snapping all at once was unmistakable. Sanji and Drake landed next to their crewmates, and even from their position in front of Oars’ body there was no mistaking the unnatural bend of his back. He wasn’t quite bent in half backward, but close, and there would be no getting over such an injury without the help of an expert team of doctors-

With a grunt, Oars moved his right arm, not even noticing his shoulder popping back in place, put a hand on his belly, and pushed it back.

~~One Piece~~

“It didn’t work,” Nami reported. She knew Usopp’s aim was trained on Oars’ face, waiting for him to open his mouth to launch the salt in it, and he wasn’t seeing the bigger picture. Although she doubted he had missed the way the giant had moved, signifying their crewmates' failure.

It had been awe-inspiring to see them wound such a large being, but now she could only feel her throat tightening in fear. If most of the crew working together wasn’t able to do any lasting damage, what hope did they have of defeating this zombie?

If they couldn’t take care of him on their own and had to wait for Luffy to win his own fight against Moria, it meant minutes, maybe more, when they had to survive against Oars. They had barely avoided death before, and not without a price. If each time Oars threw a punch, one of their members got gravely injured, they wouldn’t last long. They couldn’t outrun it, and while sneakiness might work—the zombie was animated by Luffy’s shadow after all—it didn’t mean much since Oars could just step on them by accident and it would kill them.

“Then it’s my time to shine,” Usopp said, voice tight. He for once wasn’t bragging, far too focused on his shot, and Nami kept silent at his side.

~~One Piece~~

“ What?” Chopper said, eyes wide as Oars did a few stretches, reacting as if they hadn’t done any damage.

“Okay, you just can’t move with an injury like that. That’s not possible. There’s a reason I never tried messing with my spine, and it’s not just because I couldn’t see it.” Franky said. “When your brain sends the instruction to move to one of your limbs, it had to go to the spine first. You literally can’t move with a broken spine.” He repeated, dumbfounded.

There was silence for a moment as they tried to understand what was happening before Robin broke it. “Chopper, have you read about the Mayuri Experiments?”

“What’s that?” Sanji asked, seeing how Chopper grimaced at the name.

“It was a series of experiments from a team of scientists led by Kurotsuchi Mayuri, in an attempt to understand how the nervous system works. It was awful, they were basically torturing animals to see how much damage they could do before they became entirely unable to move. Doctorine thought I should read the reports, because while a lot of people aren’t ready to experiment on humans they have no such compunctions about animals, and she wanted me to be aware of that… Oh!”

“That’s the sound of a genius realizing something.”

“One of the conclusions of the Mayuri Experiments was that even if an animal was brain dead, it was still capable of moving under specific circumstances,” Robin said. She could see that they were still confused, and explained further. “That zombie is just a dead body animated by a shadow. It’s Luffy’s shadow, through Moria’s powers, that makes him move. Oars don’t need a working brain to function, probably don’t even have one. And without the instructions coming from the brain, his spine isn’t a necessary part of his body without which Oars can’t move, it’s just another bone. Breaking it had as much of an impact as breaking a leg. Almost none.”

Chapter Text

Oars finished his stretch, rolling one last time his shoulders to ensure all his bones were back in their proper place. “What was that?” he boomed.

Before he could do more than glare at the Straw Hats on the ground, a projectile flew straight into his open mouth.

“Did Usopp...” Franky said incredulously. If their sniper had just managed to feed him salt, then Oars was done for.

“Bleh!” Oars spat, saliva flying into the forest. “That was disgusting.”

“Shit.” Sanji summarized.

“It didn’t work...” Chopper wailed.

“It might not have been enough salt for a zombie his size.” Robin theorized.

Oars turned back to glare at them and readied another punch. “Everyone dodge!” Zoro shouted, everyone starting to run in various directions.

They had all been standing far enough from each other that they weren’t all in the center of the punch. Zoro was the only one in the middle of his aim, and he knew he wouldn’t have time to get out from under the attack. He also knew that if he got injured as much as Drake had, their chances of defeating the zombie would diminish greatly, but he had no other choice but to try to tank the hit.

Noise at his side made him glance to see Chopper standing next to him. He was about to yell at him to get away when he noticed his fearful yet determined look. With a practiced move, the human reindeer threw a Rumble Ball in his mouth and crunched it between his teeth.

“Guard Point!” Chopper’s fur grew, covering his entire body in a large protective layer. Zoro was sure he had seen him use this form before, but it hadn’t been as big. He was now as tall as him, and he could guess what he was planning to do.

“Down!” He yelled a last warning in case there was anyone else from the crew still in attack range, crouching and grabbing Chopper’s fur with one hand, trusting that he knew what he was doing.

Chopper cried out when Oars' punch landed, almost ending up squished under the weight despite the large protective layer surrounding him, his body serving as a shield to prevent the attack from reaching the ground. Zoro put one arm against Oars’ gigantic hand, rising from his crouch as much as he could and starting to push back, knowing the doctor didn’t have the strength to do so.

“Chopper. Chopper!” He repeated when he didn’t get an answer the first time. He managed to get one leg straight under him, gaining more stability to push up, and Oars’ hand finally retreated.

“Everyone’s alright?” He shouted, finally locating a head in the middle of all his fur. “Hey, Chopper, you’re alright? Can you switch back?” The small reindeer had his face scrunched up in pain, but with all the fur he couldn’t tell if he had gotten injured.

“We’re fine.” Sanji’s voice answered him, and he glanced up to see him helping Robin stand up, Franky’s hair and Brook’s afro moving in the distance.

“I’m alright,” Chopper answered a few moments later, shifting into his smaller form. Zoro patted him quickly, glad not to feel blood and not to see Chopper flinch away from his touch. “It stunned me for a moment, but I’m not hurt.”

“What do we do now?” Franky asked, looking at Oars standing above them, who was looking at his fist with interest, no doubt wondering how it had been pushed back twice in a row. They had minutes at most before he refocused his attention on them.

“He’s still walking on a broken leg and spine. I don’t think we have any attack big enough to damage his body so he won’t be able to move.”

“If we need something big...” Chopper glanced down at his pockets, knowing he still had a few Rumbles Balls stored in them. He knew what would open if he ate another one, making it his third in a few hours.

His hoofs shook slightly as he suddenly realized that he didn’t know what would happen. He had changed the formula since the… Incident.

The only things he remembered from back then were flashes; snow falling on him, crashing from the top of the Rockies into the forest at the bottom, pain and rage. He had only reverted back to normal once his body had been too exhausted to sustain his large, monstrous form.

With his new Rumble Ball, would he even be able to come back to normal? Or would he be stuck as a monster for the rest of his life, unable to tell friends from foes? Would he even be able to damage Oars?

“Chopper?” Sanji’s concerned tone made him focus on the present and away from his spiraling doubts.

“I… I was wondering if I needed to do something stupid.”

The other traded worried looks over his head. “Well, we’re not going to stop you in whatever you want to try, but you’re a pretty smart guy. If you think it’s stupid, it probably is.” Sanji told him.

“I’m not happy you called me smart, bastard,” Chopper shouted as he blushed. But Sanji was right. It wasn’t worth risking, they weren’t that desperate yet. He had almost all of the crew at his back, he wasn’t alone in this fight.

“Do you want to tell us what you were thinking about?” Franky asked, and Chopper shook his head.

“No. I don’t need to do it. We can defeat him together.”

~~One Piece~~

Luffy hated enemies that didn’t let themselves be punched. He couldn’t beat them if they kept on dodging! And it wasn’t like Moria’s attacks were hurting him or anything, they were just really annoying. The shadow bats kept on biting him but Luffy could punch them away without trouble, and they disappeared under his fists.

Moria was quick in creating shadow clones and switching places with them, but already Luffy could see a pattern in his actions. He sent a punch toward Moria’s face, who smirked as his skin faded to black and a shadow replaced him; at the same time he directed a kick toward the right, which connected with Moria’s reforming body.

“Kih!” Moria spat out blood as the impact bent him in two.

“There you go!” Luffy grinned as his limbs retracted. His grin faltered slightly as the tower shook around them once more, as it had been doing regularly in the last few minutes. He didn’t need to worry, because Zoro was out there to take care of the zombie using his shadow, but at the same time… It was his shadow. A part of himself, animating what Moria had said was his strongest zombie. Something big enough to cause all those shockwaves. Zoro was super strong, but against Luffy? A Luffy with a tireless body?

He forced the thoughts away. If Zoro was struggling, there was the rest of his crew to back him up. Which included Brook! Brook would no doubt help. He was cool, and fast, and a swordsman.

“Did you feel that? That’s the sound of another of your crew members getting smashed. Like a bug on a sail. An ant under a boot.”

Moria was definitely a weird guy. Bugs got smashed super easily, Luffy knew. He always had to be careful when he caught one, even as a kid when he had been super weak. His crew wouldn’t be smashed easily, in fact they wouldn’t be smashed at all, so he wasn’t sure why Moria was comparing them to bugs. Maybe he was trying to do a metaphor—he sounded the word carefully even in his own head—and didn’t know how to do them? Luffy didn’t understand most metaphors either and found they more often than not ended in disappointment, like that one with cake and icing when there wasn’t a real cake, so he could understand the struggle. It just showed that Moria wasn’t that smart if he tried to use metaphors despite not understanding them.

Robin would understand if it was a metaphor. Or some other turn of phrase people who read books liked to use. He would have to ask her, if he remembered to, she would definitely translate what Moria had been trying to say. Maybe he was trying to be insulting? Some people didn’t like bugs. Like Nami. And Sanji, even if he tried to hide it. But Luffy liked bugs, so comparing his crews to bugs wasn’t insulting. Bugs were shiny, and interesting, and they came in all colors, and Luffy could spend his day watching them without getting bored. Just like his crew! Except for the being squishable part, they were a lot like bugs.

“Nothing to say? You know I’m right, no matter how much you try to deny it.” Oh, right, Moria was still talking. “Maybe we should go look at how your crew is doing, uh? Wouldn’t you like to witness their last moments, see their anguish-filled eyes as they stare at you in betrayal, knowing you led them to an enemy you had no chance of defeating and doomed them?”

Moria shifted into shadows, rushing out of the room before Luffy could spit out his angry retort, and after a moment of surprise he ran after him, shouting at him to come back.

Moria was quicker in his shadow form, not needing to waste time opening doors or smashing them, and Luffy quickly lost sight of him. He entered another corridor, this one entirely empty, with no trace that Moria had actually passed through it.

“Left or right, left or right...” He muttered, opening a random door, glancing at the room—a living room, with a comfy-looking sofa in it—before backing away, looking at the empty building. “Guess he went out.” He thought out loud, opening one of the large windows decorating the corridor, glancing out of it. There was still fog everywhere, and he could only see the shadow of another, smaller tower in the distance, but nothing beyond that.

He cocked one arm back and sent his hand toward the pole on top of the roof in front of him, catapulting himself to the other tower.

“Whoa!” From his new position he could see further into the island, and there was no missing the large, red body now visible. “That’s a big giant.” It was at least three times as big as Dorry and Broggy had been, probably more. He guessed that was the zombie Moria had been talking about, his strongest zombie with his shadow inside. Odz, Ohz, something like that. Then he saw normal-sized people at its feet, looking so small next to him. “Hey, guys!” he shouted, recognizing his crew. He guessed that they hadn’t heard him when they didn’t answer or wave back.

They weren’t too far away for him to reach, and after taking a step back to gain momentum he threw himself toward them.

“Luffy!” Various people shouted his name as he landed next to them, and he grinned. They were covered in dust and looked both exhausted and frustrated, but they seemed alright. Usopp, Robin, and Brook were a little further away, talking together with worried faces.

“Were you fighting that giant?” He asked.

“Yes, Oars,” Sanji said. “He’s stupidly tough. We broke his spine, cut through the bones of one leg, we’ve tried to cut one of his arms off but his skin and bones are too thick.” There was a large gash over Oars’ left shoulder, impact marks over his skin, but Oars' arm was still moving as he looked at Luffy, confused about the newcomer's appearance. “We don’t have enough salt to get rid of his shadow, Chopper is running back to the Sunny to grab the last of our stocks.”

“Alright! You’ll find a way!” He grinned at Robin when she looked his way, glad to see they had quickly gotten her back. “I’m looking for Moria, he ran away, have you seen him?”

“Kishishishi.”

None looked more surprised than Oars when Moria opened a door in his stomach, revealing that the zombie insides had been emptied to fit a room. Moria was sitting in a chair in front of a control panel, and looking down at the Straw Hats.

“What’s he doing up there?” Nami asked.

“You didn’t think that I was merely capable of creating zombies with the shadows I stole, did you?” Moria started to brag. “After I’ve reanimated a body with my shadows, I can not only send them to follow my orders on their own, but I can also directly control their bodies by controlling their shadow! And the shadow remembers its original body, which means I can easily manipulate Oars to mirror what your captain is capable of doing!”

“What’s that mean?” Luffy asked, head tilting to the side.

“No clue,” Zoro answered.

“Surely you have noticed that Oars wasn’t stretching,” Moria said.

“We were busy trying to cut him in pieces, so not really.” Nami pointed out.

“Well, since he has your captain's shadow and the shadows remember that it used to stretch, I can easily force Oars' body to do the same.”

“I don’t want you to force me to do anything! But stretching would be cool… My punch would be like a pistol!”

“Don’t tell me...” Sanji said as Oars took a familiar pose, sending his arm behind him. Far behind him, his skin stretching just as Luffy’s normally did.

“Gear Third!” Luffy shouted as he ran in front of his teammates, blowing air into his bones, his own fist growing in size until it was as big as Oars’ head. He jumped, and before Oars had the time to try to block, punched him in the face.

“Moria’s my fight. As long as he’s is Oars body, leave them to me.” He ordered.

“You’re sure, captain?” Zoro asked, looking down at his shrunken body.

Luffy grew back to his original height a few moments later. “Yeah. Moria might be able to copy some of my attacks, but I’ve got my Devil Fruit for ten years. He won’t be able to use it like I do.” As if to prove his point, Oars’ arm snapped back from his attack attempt, sending him crashing into the building next to him. “You should have seen me when I first got my fruit, shishishi.”

Drake made a noise of understanding. He had certainly struggled when he was younger, and at least his powers were straightforward. He couldn’t imagine how he would have dealt had his body suddenly started working differently like it must have done for Luffy, who couldn’t turn his rubber powers off.

Oars got back to his feet, and under Moria’s orders once more send his arm back to ready a punch.

“You’re going to have to do better than that,” Luffy said, grabbing one of Oars’ horns to get in front of his face. “Gomu Gomu no Yari!” He reunited his feet together like a spear and kicked right into Oars’ working eye.

The giant cried out, his other hand coming to clutch at his eye. “I can’t see! I can’t see!”

“You think it matters if you injure him?” Moria mocked. “I’ll build him another eye if I need to. And as long as I’m with him, he doesn’t need to see. Don’t you understand? I’m the one in control!”

Oars launched his punch, forcing Luffy to twist mid-air to avoid the hit. He used his position to send his leg high, and covering it with Haki, stomped on Oars’ arm. The bone cracked under the impact, but didn’t break.

“Are you stupid? I just told you, you can’t damage him in a way that matter.”

“But I can damage you.” He aimed for Moria, but before his attack could land the Shichibukai shifted into a shadow-body and disappeared from the control room.

“Kishishishi.”

Luffy whirled in the air to face the direction of the laugh to see Moria standing right behind in crewmates.

“Brick Bat.”

Before he had time to react and shout a warning, Moria had already attacked, a swarm of bats flying toward his unsuspecting friends.

And passing harmlessly right through them, the illusion fading away.

“What?” Moria shrieked.

“You really think we’d just stand here and watch you fight?” Nami called from further away, the shimmer of air around her revealing that it was another illusion. “We know how destructive Luffy can be, there’s no way we’d get in his way!”

“You didn’t think my crew would be helpless without me, did you?” Luffy said as he landed on the ground. He hadn’t expected Nami to create an illusion—illusions were cool, it looked like they were somewhere but instead they were somewhere else, like a ninja appearing out of nowhere—but he knew they wouldn’t have just been standing around watching him fight. If nothing else, he expected them to have taken the time to get ready to attack Oars again, in case Moria stopped controlling him like he just did and Luffy had to take his focus off the zombie.

“You tricked me?” Moria sounded incredulous, and when he turned his surprised gaze somewhere behind Luffy, he knew he had been correct and his crew was already taking advantage of the separation.

He turned as well to see Robin, a pair of beige wings spreading from her shoulders keeping her high in the air, a large bag in her hands which she dropped right into Oars’ mouth.

Luffy stomped on the ground, his foot landing on Moria’s shadow just as it passed right past him, the Shichibukai rushing to the zombie’s aid and trying to intercept the bag of salt before it could be swallowed, but getting stopped by Luffy.

Oars swallowed the bag with a “Uh?”, and it immediately did its job. He fell to the ground, taking out a building with him and making the ground tremble.

The large shadow swirled in the sky, shortening until it was barely visible through the fog, and rushed at Luffy, reuniting with his body.

Moria let out a scream of anger and turned to face Luffy.

“Now you’ve made me very mad!”

Shadows rushed on the ground, creating a square around Luffy’s feet. Before he could jump away, they rose, trapping him inside a box. He crossed his arms in front of him as a shield, barely protecting his head from the dark spike that grew suddenly from inside the box, his arm getting pierced instead.

He shouted in pain as one of the spikes impaled the side of his stomach. One grazed his leg and he fell to his knees, rolling into a ball and protecting as much of his body as possible. He could only keep his Haki on small areas and for a short time, long enough to land an attack but not to defend himself. One spike pierced his hand just as his Haki failed him, and he grit his teeth at the pain.

“Luffy!” The concerned voices of his crewmates reached him at the same time as the light, the box dissolving around him. He rose up to his feet, clutching at the hole in his side. The spike hadn’t simply pierced his belly, it had torn a huge chunk of skin off his body, leaving him with a large bleeding wound.

“How can you still stand!” Moria’s voice reached an unpleasant pitch as he shrieked.

“I won’t stop until I’ve defeated you!” His declaration enraged Moria even more, and a blood vessel burst in one of his eyes.

“You… Overconfident… ROOKIE!!!” Moria seemed to have lost the last of his sanity as he shouted at the sky. “I’ll show you despair… I’ll crush you, crush your crew… I’ll crush your fighting spirit until there’s nothing left! Until you’re barely a husk of a human being, and then I’ll kill you like the miserable weakling you are!”

Luffy could almost feel everyone’s wariness increase at Moria’s threatening words, but it was still his fight. “Everyone stay back.” He ordered before they could try to move forward.

“Shadow Asgard” There was a moment of stillness, before the previously fog-covered sky turned black, dozens, no, hundreds of shadows rushing from every corner of the island and toward Moria, who absorbed them, arms spread wide as he let out a demented laugh.

“300… 500...” In front of the Straw Hats’ eyes, Moria’s body started to grow bigger.

“7̵̗̆0̷̻̟̽̒0̵̟͆̏… 8̷̼̒̆0̸̨̤͋0̵̝̲́͋...” His fingers elongated, gaining claw-like appearances.

“9̷̜̖͎̠̾̃0̵̧̺̔͑0̷̣̩̺̩̀...” His voice deepened into a growl, teeth sharpening as he grinned insanely.

“1̷̧̪͙̤̹͙̲̖̉͋̾̅0̵̧̢̣̫̤͎̎̇0̶̦̗͎͖̣̙͆̔̌̊̈́̃͝0̸̧̧̯͇̙͙͔̮̓̓͐̋̔͗̚!”

His horns lengthened, two large hands landing on the ruins, crushing them under his weight as his monstrous body leaned forward toward Luffy. He laughed, his entire body shaking with it, his dilated eyes not leaving his enemy.

“I have the strength of a thousand shadows inside of me! Try to defeat that, Straw Hat! This is the power that will make me Pirate King!”

Chapter Text

“Pirate King?” Luffy repeated, hat shadowing his eyes. “Don’t make me laugh!” He shouted, head snapping up to glare at Moria, hands clenching at his side. “As if someone like you could ever be Pirate King! You hide here because you’re too scared to face the world, you steal your strength and can’t even control it, and you think you have what it takes to become the Pirate King?”

He crouched, putting one fist against the ground and pumping his blood through his body. He barely registered the sudden weakness he felt as the blood gushed out of his still-open wounds because of the heightened pressure.

Shadows were escaping from Moria’s mouth with every breath he took, circling his body like a swarm of insects. This was a last desperate attempt of a desperate man who hadn’t fought anyone face to face in years, and every experienced fighter on the island could see it.

“Kage-” Moria held a hand out in Luffy’s direction, almost falling to the ground as he barely managed to hold his body up with three limbs, his body moving in slow motion as he tried to attack.