To Become one with the Rising Tide

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is from a monetized source, this is a not for profit exercise in fun and pursuit of happiness.

Summary: Ah, shit. I'm in the body of Monkey D. Garp and I've just introduced Luffy to Ace. What am I going to do? Troll Sengoku and the Gorosei? Make Ace and Luffy become Marines and slap Akainu like a bitch? I'm sure I can think of something...

Chapter 1-Oh God, NO

"-Gramps are you listening to me?"

The dulcet tones of a preteen kid hit my eardrums, and my eyes began to focus around me. What was I just doing? What is going on? And is that a young Gol D. Ace and Monkey D. Luffy I spy in front of me...?!

Am I in One Piece?

"I'm sorry Luffy, can you repeat your question, afraid I was leagues away my grandson." My voice, came out around two tones deeper than what I normally sounded like, and the differences laid in the voice of the man I was now inhabiting sounding like gravel, whereas my voice sounded deep with bass.

Oh HELL NAH!

I was in Monkey D. Garp's body... I WAS MONKEY D. GARP!

One of the greatest and most legendary sailors from the Age of the Pirate King, "Garp the Fist" was renowned and praised because his abilities with strength and the Marine techniques gave him the ability to match and beat the monsters of the last generation and this current one. Those I see as some of the pros.

Cons?

I'm now in a world, ruled by a selfish elite, who enslave anyone they please, constricted with a massive Navy and Marine corps, and even though I'm legendary, I'm also chowder if I make a wrong move. Sengoku tolerates Garp, but knows him intimately, and would recognize a more independent and rebellious Garp as an imposter. The Admirals and others will most likely report me to the nobles if I do anything that impedes them. The CP's could fabricate any number of claims, and paint me ten ways from Sunday before I got up in the morning. The Gorosei could hire a Yonkou to wipe me out, if I displeased them, hoping I would prove a useful tool one last time in destroying a Pirate Emperor as I was killed...

"-amps, you said you were gonna train us!" Luffy's face lit up brightly at the idea of training, and getting stronger. Ace pretended to be disinterested, but gave himself away with the occasional nervous glance at his grandfather.

Hmmm. Garp would of course turn them down. However, Garp's not here man!

"Hrmf. I need to know a few things before we go ahead with that boys. I want to know how much you guys can handle each day, and how fast you heal. You, Luffy, have the Gomu Gomu no Mi, and are thus possessed of the ability to use all of rubber's qualities with none of it's drawbacks. Same with you Ace, even though your fruit is the Mera Mera no Mi, the one main similarity in the devil fruit's is that you are able to use an ability without drawbacks. This is due to the automatic drawback of the body seizing up, when you touch seawater." My basic assessment had the boys slightly slackjawed, but nodding along at the rational explanations.

"So, you will each do a regime I will prepare for you, for three weeks straight. Then, we will see whether a tough regime is beneficial or detrimental to your growth. As well, you need not worry about being alone and exhausting yourself when you are asleep anymore, for I will be staying permanently with you. This does not mean you do not have to hunt, as I won't have your survival skills slipping Ace, and I want you teach Luffy everything you know so that he will be able to survive anywhere by himself." In my mind, I began to think of what I could put them through. Given the extraordinary physiology of a Devil-Fruit enhanced individual, and how insane ones growth became once they trained(there is no way Sengoku, Akainu, Kizaru, Aokiji, and the others could have become as tall as they were but not completely giants, without some kind of devil fruit enhancement explanation), I should be able to make these dudes into someone that Hashirama Senju, Yamamoto Genryusai Shingekuni, The Vision, Iron Man, and Shao Kahn would take seriously in a fight.

The only way to do this, was to isolate the boys as best as I could, train myself, steal some important artifacts, and make sure Shanks got his arm back. There were many ways to do the last, and the the others I had designs for already.

"For now, I want you to go hunting, and get the biggest kill you can, we will need the energy. Go." I didn't give them a chance to reply, instead delegating a task that would both take their focus and allow what he had just told them to sink in.

Running through my mind, I began listing all the insane training programs I had seen in anime, and actively began to take ideas I liked or wanted to achieve and stuck them in a mental hologram of what I needed to make together successfully. Eventually I scrolled to a stop.

I would begin putting Garp's body through the paces of Saitama's workout from the One Punch Man series, and see what it could do for his body. Adding elements of Maito Gai's workout, and Son Goku's Turtle Hermit routines, completed the physical component for now. Until I was able to gain a Devil Fruit, Haki and the Marine techniques would have to do. Combined with the Saitama-Gai-Goku workout I had planned, it should give me enough benefits to pancake any threats that come my way. Maybe even enough to ward off someone like Akainu, or Kaido.

Maybe that was too optimistic, but I would go through with it anyway.

As for Luffy and Ace... Starting with Saitama's workout was a great idea, and if I could get something like Muten Roshi's shells to enhance the training, they would gain an advantage over their future selves by having a martial ability, more stamina, agility, and better reaction times. I wouldn't add the savage weight training that Gai did, but his form of Goken and the repetition's he had Lee do would be most useful in training Luffy and Ace.

As for understanding their abilities...

I would begin to teach them what I knew of science, the world, the universe, cosmology, biology, chemistry, physics, and everything that could give them an advantage. The more one understands their relation to their surroundings, the more they are integrated with and comfortable in that area. Almost like a home-field advantage, but much more tangible considering it wasn't a superstitious outcome he was hoping for, but rather one that would strategically overpower an opponents attempts to dominate them. Ace alone, would now be able to burn far hotter than he was ever before, because he began to understand the nature of his fire, his fruit, and his own energies.

I was hoping I could convince him to burn hot enough to vaporize magma for... Reasons.

Luffy would gain a lot from the training, maybe more than Ace, due to the rebounding nature of his body. How else did he get so injured and devastated by Crocodile before coming back and thumping the cigar-smoking menace good? Even if Emporio Ivan was as good as he says he was, how did Luffy survive Magellan's attack? Luffy was not only durable with his rubber body, but his physiology rebounded extraordinarily quick. While not on the scale of The Wolverine, or The Hulk, it was in excess of say, what Captain America in the 616 Marvel Universe had displayed. Which gave me plenty of opportunities. Luffy's devil fruit gave him an innate healing factor, and each time the cells healed, they improved. The human body works on an epigenetic level during it's lifetime, to accommodate and protect the body as a whole, and when our bones heal they become stronger as long as we eat what is needed to fuel our bodies systems. While not on the level of regrowing a limb, our bodies can do miraculous things. Therefore, Luffy would make massive strides in strength, and probably easily match Dracule "Hawkeyes" Mihawk when he got to Chef Zeff's restaurant. Strength of fist and Haki, against strength of sword and Haki, that would be a fight to behold.

Ace may make less gains when it comes to physical power, unless he could come up with a way of getting him to use his fires more abstract properties of destruction and renewal to flood his body with the flames and increase his healing every night, until he could heal on instinct with his fire by burning away the old and providing the spark for the new.

"Gramps, we caught nearly half a pond I think, Luffy's got a huuuuge pike!" Ace's warm declaration was surprising given how cold and bored he had been attempting to look. Maybe the hunt and walk allowed him to vent his reactive feelings and then think about what his grandfather had said before coming to the conclusion that it would be better with his Gramps around.

"Good job boys. We will eat good tonight." As the two fell into the routine of preparing the fish, and starting the fire, I joined them. Jumping back and forth between Luffy and Ace, I made sure to aid them and only help with the activities, not order them around as that would alienate them. I needed to not only build their minds and bodies, but I needed to build their spirits. And that meant being a good grandfather, who takes care of his family, when no one else can do it and train them as necessary to face the world.

"Alright. I think you two have had enough time to stew. What kind of questions do you have for me?" Facing them across the fire, while the 400 pound pike's meat was stretched out and cooking, I looked the two in the eyes. Both looked at each other once, nodded, then faced me.

"Gramps... Why the change of heart?" Ace's eyes narrowed, questioning me before I even replied.

"... That is difficult to answer Ace. While walking Luffy here, I was going over a few things in my mind, and I realized something. Despite my efforts to keep you hidden and protected, maybe I was going about it the wrong way. Maybe I wasn't doing enough, and maybe I could do more." Ace opened his mouth to retort that he was too late, but I overrode his attempt to redirect the conversation. "Because all I could think about, was what if I was wrong... And suddenly there were visions of your death haunting me. Every night on the way to Luffy's town, and every night on the way here, I was tormented by visions of you dying at the hands of all sorts of monsters. Pirates. Marines. Nobles. Warlords. Anyone who had the power to mess with me, and could get to you when I wasn't in range to protect you." I stirred the embers, haunted by only one vision. The dead eyes of Ace, as he blocks a fist of magma before it impacts his kneeling brother Luffy.

Needed to prevent that at all cost. Not gonna be easy.

Ace shut his jaw with a click, and silence permeated the clearing, only filled by the crackling fire and the creatures of the forest. Luffy spoke next.

"Gramps, you told me that you were going to be leaving me here, even up to the minute before we met Ace here. Why would you tell me that, if you were so set on staying and changing your plans?" His big eyes, so innocent, looked up at me. Damn, that could be heart-wrenching, Luffy has a natural Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu... Hope he doesn't use it to try and get treats or food from me, I will probably break from a concentrated blast of such a dastardly technique.

"I was trying to convince myself Luffy. I was trying to convince myself, that it was still a good idea to leave you both here and only train you on occasion. At the last second, just as I introduced Ace, I was struck by another vision. Ace with a fist through his chest, standing over Luffy protecting him, and the light slowly leaving his eyes." Seeing as I had viewed it as a tragic even in my home universe, it was not hard to cry, even in Garp's body. Slowly, a few tears rolled out, telling the story of the dastardly visions to the two younglings.

They bought what I had said.

I felt a little guilty for lying to the two, but it was real enough and a believable threat that would be reinforced by future encounters. Which I would now train them to overcome, and never underestimate.

"Now, your training begins! Before I am through, you will be able to instruct an admiral on Rokushiki and Haki like they are cadets! Yonkou will be beaten by your fists! Shichibukai, marines and pirates will run if you challenge them!" As I wiped the tears out of my eyes, I reflected on one thing. Getting to be over the top would be one thing I was going to enjoy about being Monkey D. Garp.

~3 Years Later~

Kicking back on a self-made wooden chair, I watched the two brats perform a workout routine. They both wore full body resistance suits, made from one of my raids on Dr. Vegapunk's lab's, and were for training admirals by putting maximum resistance on all aspects of movements so they could train above and beyond their pirate opposition. Both Luffy and Ace were now six feet four inches, and still growing.

I was right about the devil fruit enhancing the physiology and regenerative power of the human body. Like a light version of Bijuu Chakra, it would flood the cells with energy and allow them to heal and improve from their previous copies. Which rapidly increased their capabilities, and, their physical growth.

Each of the brats carried a massive rock on their backs. Luffy was using his arms to tie around the rock, and Ace was trying to make fire whips tangible enough to hold and secure the rock on his back.

"That's enough dawdling. Your rocks are as secure as they will ever be, now GIVE ME TEN MILES!" I picked up my own rock, 3 times the size of their own and with just my ridiculous patented Garp strength, held it on my back. My fingers dug in, just enough to hold it as I took off, my grandsons sprinting before me.

A fun run awaited us, as I chased the boys around the ten mile boundary to the small property I had carved out deep in the temperate islands refuge. I chased them through fields, trees, hills, rivers, and over lakes. Eventually we finished up with 100 weighted squats, 100 weighted sit-ups done over a cliff[Luffy held Ace, Ace held Luffy, and both boys had to hold Garp's legs down as he did his to make sure he didn't fly over the edge], and 100 weighted pushups with the rock on their backs. To finish, I made them do 100 weighted deadlift-to-shoulder presses with their rocks so they would also exercise their lower back and the muscles of the arms and shoulders.

"Alright. You both have come really far in these past few years. Do your kata's, and I will begin outlining our next phase." The terrible two slipped into the first stance of their martial styles, and began to move through the positions, cooling down their muscles and evenly distributing the stretch across their beleaguered forms.

"Since you two have gotten so strong in so short of a time, I've decided to include weapons training. However, we will need to find weapons that are powerful, durable, and awesome enough to compliment you now and in the future. To begin with, one of my plans is to facilitate the construction of a fleet for you two. I originally wanted you to be part of the marines, but I know that cannot come to pass, so better for me to aid one or both of you in your pirate adventures as a Quarter Master and Strategic Officer. I also decided that even if we cannot use something right now, or even ever, it may be a good idea to grab things simply to deny our enemy the usage of an artifact or facility. However, we must not risk exposure, as anonymity is our ally." Both of the kids looked up at me quizzically.

"Anonymity?" Luffy questioned, his face struggling with all the gumption of a teen hitting his hormones. At least he pronounced it right...

"It means we don't want anyone knowing who we are Luffy. Given how strong we are now, it would stand to reason that the Marines and Gorosei would rather kill us all right now. Even if we are not conspiring to overthrow the government, our power is mighty and strong enough to be a threat to the Tenryuubito." There was no humour in Ace's tone, as his stony visage gazed upon the crackling flames.

"Too true my dear boy. Which is why, by the time we get to be publicly known, we must have the backing of power comparable to a Yonkou to ensure we do not get mobbed by Admirals, Buster Calls, and CP detachments. Not an easy thing to do, just look at the Revolutionaries. Rebelling for 11 years, and still little to show for it. With my way, we will gain enough power to become the fifth Yonkou faction, and be ready to grow further." I had projects dancing through my head, as I continued to think about all the people I was going to ensure were assigned t this Supernova crew.

I would ensure Ace didn't leave Luffy, but still developed a relationship with Whitebeard. One, Ace needed a good man to tell him stories of his old man when he was old enough, and Luffy needed to learn what he could from the elder D. Ensuring Koby and Helmeppo joined the crew would be easy enough, and those two could be trained up. I was thinking that I would wait until Loguetown to try and recruit the recollected Alvida, Buggy and co., adding the Buggy Pirates to the Strawhat Armada. Johnny and Yosaku would be dragged along, as I would force Zoro to take being a Sword-master seriously[over 10 years, no disciples? Pull your head out of your ass Zoro, confront your grief, and get with it!].

Following this, I would ensure that Kuro was duelled verbally, coming to accept the necessity of working for Luffy and me, and the importance of bringing his crew and himself out of retirement. Taking him as a protege in strategy and tactics, I would be able to subvert him psychologically. Hopefully. Don Krieg was a nobody, rally only having an interesting suit, and the only thing I needed to do to ensure that Sanji came aboard, was hold Luffy and Ace back for a little bit so they didn't flatten the enemy, and get into a fight with Mihawk which would wreak Barati Restaurant and make Sanji swear eternal pain on them both.

Unlikely. But with Luffy's luck...

Poaching Pearl, Gin, and maybe even some of the crew of Don Krieg would be an easy thing, as long as we showed them honour when outclassing them. The point I would make, is never humiliate your enemies, and you may have a chance of turning them to become your allies.

Krieg, I was going to punch as hard as I could into the sky, in the direction of the nearest marine station. With a message scrawled on his armour, engraved into the surface with my finger.

~TO Sengoku~
~FROM Garp~
~Enjoying my vacation, hope you are well. Hold down the office for me.~
~Cheers, Garp~

And he was going to pay several dozen of his old contacts to have several dozen cameras in Sengoku's office to record his reaction. Even if I wasn't THE Garp, number one I had to keep up appearances, and two I did enjoy a good joke. Sengoku would blow his stack when he finally got news of my whereabouts, and would be completely enraged at my claim that I was on a vacation. I wonder if could get a bet going on the black market to begin betting stakes on various things that could happen when Sengoku blows his stack. How far his scream goes, how much of the office he wrecks, how many windows get blown out and all that... Because one thing was for sure, Sengoku would believe nearly anything coming form Garp as long as he made up for it, but pretending to take a vacation with no prior warning? For ten years?

Not bloody likely. Huh, now that I think about it, I may be able to hear his rage elicit from Marineford all the way to Arlong Park.

Arlong and his Fish Men were a tough case to deal with. Unless I could prove that Luffy, Ace, or I were the champions of a God of the Sea, Arlong would never acknowledge our power. The Fishman was a true racist and believed all Fishmen were superior to Humans. Some of his crew became better later on, but after we defeat them I may have Nami and I go through the defeated to see who would be acceptable on the armada. Nojiko was coming with us, just as Kaya was brought alongside Usopp. I had designs on healing Kaya, using her understanding of nobility to teach a little etiquette and more of the code to the crew, and I thought she would make a great doctor. Nojiko, when paired with Nami, would make an outstanding unconventional weapons team, and I wanted to try and bring out Armament Haki in them so they would be able to achieve a level of strength through rough training that would allow them to stand up to the monsters in this world.

I would find a way to convert Smoker and Tashiggi. First of all, I didn't want to run into them really, but I did want to steal the people that Buggy would bring to the town square. Tashiggi, I could convince to join us, if I could only get Zoro to start telling his story to others who were interested in his swords and the discipline of sword-fighting. Tashiggi was kind, but also vindictive, and would understand if Zoro got a chance to tell her why he had to get a new sword and how he had been gifted them by Kuina and her father after her death.

Zoro would be easy to train, but I had to find a way to get him a devil fruit. I don't know how he accessed so much of his bodies potential, it may have to do with the demon in him, but I was pretty sure that it may have been an unconventional form of Haki. More like raw willpower was pushing his speed, strength, durability, and healing, after witnessing Kuina's funeral. There was also the fact that Zoro had hit his head enough time as a kid, and now the hardheadedness he possessed would make Goku shake his head in sympathy. Which could have lead to his willpower connecting far more to his one principle that he held, that being to become the greatest swords-master in the world. While defining swordsman as he wanted to would give him his ethical boundary, it always included being able to match and surpass an opponents speed, accuracy, techniques, power and stamina to be a true swords-master.

"I am going to take you boys on your first raid." Both sat up straight as their eyes widened, quickly sitting back in apprehension of what they would be doing. I raised an eyebrow, then nodded at them. Their self-control had come far.

"I have found a facility where there are experiments being performed with children and devil fruits. We will be going there to loot, raze and rescue who we can. There is a specific objective that I have in mind, but that is the gist of it for you two. Smash, grab, annihilate. We will use stealth until we secure the children. Then, as long as we protect them, any techniques are authorized and you don't have to hold back." With my final sentence, both grinned at me in anticipation. They had come a long long way with their strength and abilities in the last few years and I was going to see how well I had done in training them.

I wasn't the real Garp, just some schmuck who used to lift weights and read One Peace after all...

So I could only hope I had achieved a correct mix of training that would maximize the advantages the two brats had. In a controlled setting, I could see we had done well, as they could create waves and part the sea to a good depth. But, how were their real instincts when faced with someone who genuinely would enjoy drinking wine from their cleansed skull in front of their sibling just for enjoyment? How would they really handle such pressure? I couldn't levy it on them, no matter how serious I tried to act during training and sparring, I cared too much to see them survive to truly want to throw such murderous intent upon them. Which is why I needed to take them on missions.

As well, I was going to see how Sengoku was dealing with my absence... Hopefully no aneurysm... Or heart attack... Or ulcer... You know what, I didn't want to think about Sengoku until I knew for sure... Probably be pissed no matter what, the man always seemed to find a way to be tense. Most importantly...

"Did I get that betting board set up for when he gets my message?" I pondered this, before shaking my head.

"The method of travel for us will be Ace. You need practice carrying passengers and amplifying your fire for strength and stamina, so this will be good practice. I will stick to your back with Haki, and you can hold Luffy around the waist." Ace outed, as Luffy put on his trademark smile. Face all lit up, eyes closed in genuine innocent joy, and grin that threatened to devour his face. Damn, that kid could tug on the heart strings with the simplest of gestures.

"Hmph. Hope you haven't gotten too fat Gramps." He grinned up at me, as if he was confident in not receiving a rebuke. As a certain Commando named Matrix would say...

"Wrong."

"Urusai!" I snarled, clouting the disrespectful teen brat over the back of his head, which resulted in Ace scrubbing his head in a small crater on the ground while looking furiously up at me. "You know I haven't put on any fat at all brat, so watch it!" I ended with a large finger poking him between the eyes.

With that dealt with, and finally having got the pre-mission jitters out of the two, I had us set out. Ace powered up, calling upon his flame energy to lighten his body, but not burn anything else[especially organics contacting his body who were on his side]. Luffy laughed excitedly as we flew through the skies, his arms spread out and even Ace ended up smiling at his brothers childish amusement. As I sat cross legged on Ace's back, like some weird Kung Fu sage training his apprentice, I couldn't help but close my eyes and snort at Luffy's antics. I still ended up smiling though. The kid was a bundle of sunshine, even in darkness he could shine light on everyone and everything.

It took more than a few hours to fly. I had a unique method of getting to the island, but it depended on whether it worked. As I had gotten it from the black market on the Grand Line in one of my jaunts around the world to scout allies and artifacts, and it was in a shop filled with unique Log Poses. Lo, and behold, there was a Log Pose for Shatterstar Island. Just the island I wanted to get to.

I had racked my brain, and tried to recall if there was anything like Shatterstar in One Peace cannon, but besides Cesar's facility, and the SMILE factory that Donquixote had, I couldn't think of anything from movies, anime, and manga that was like it. Anyway... It was apparently one of Dr. Vegapunk's facilities where he was allowed to experiment with Devil Fruits, Haki, and children of parents with both powers to try and see what kind of second-generation user of either or both powers he could make.

These kids, the ones that I could rescue, would be the foundation for Luffy and Ace's Nakama. And honestly, as we went through the seas, I think I would find a way to get a junior corp of Strawhats to come with us. There were probably more than enough characters like Inari from Naruto, that were the denied the chance to tag along with their idols to learn or train with them because they could barely take care of themselves despite being a hero.

And while they would not be ready for Marineford, or the War of the Best, if I could prolong the break between the series halves... From somewhere between 2 and 3 years, to something like 5 to 7, then the Strawhats could have two generations of dreamers to fight with them. Which would be beneficial in the long run. Why? Competition in the cohabitative spirit can precipitate drive for efficiency in their chosen dream, because of another persons success. Given how bonded and wilful the nakama will be by then, they should all be able to positively respond to another surpassing them. If not, I will have to do some "training sessions".

And just like a certain Namek's sessions, mine were mostly focused on the Art of DODGE!

Plans within plans.

Finally, we were there.

"Alright. See that central tower, behind all the ring-walls?" I pointed out far enough that the boys could ascertain what area I was gesturing at. They both nodded.

"We are going to drop in there. Observe the guard schedule, and I will let you choose when we should drop in." The fire fisted kid nodded. For the next five minutes, the two brats watched the guard patrols, cataloguing blind spots and patterns. Then, Ace gestured for us to go.

We dropped really quietly, landing softly on the parapet. There was a guard, but he was overlooking the compound and bay inlet. Luffy quietly extended his arm, and clonked him over the head with a fist that blew up to the size of the marine's body in a second. Quickly making sure he pulled his hand out of sight, Luffy snagged the guard, and quietly stuffed him by the door. Taking out a vial with a micro-dropper, the rubber kid placed three drops in the mans throat and watched his head loll hard to the side. He would be out for 8 hours now, and we had plenty of time.

Snickering, Ace opened the door, and assessed the corridor. No lenses for camera's, no guards. Hmmm, luck was with us. We began to make our way into the depths of the facility. Soon, we began to approach the first objective.

"Alright, boys, what you are going to see in here will shock and horrify you. I want you to show these kids all the compassion you can, and I want you to try and be their big brothers. They have never had anything but pain, so they need support from GOOD big brothers right now. Am I understood?" Both Ace and Luffy looked shocked and then nodded, as even if they may be jealous because I wanted more kids in the family, they were needed as big brothers[an absolute sacred duty to boys, even if they are bratty and naughty].

With a slam, I thrust the doors open, shocking the occupants. They swung completely open, and ripped off their hinges when they impacted the walls, with a loud booming report sounding off of the compounds walls. Shock emanated from the adults, and children in the room. The adults had a mix of white lab coats, or black body suits on, and the kids were all in cells with glass and steel doors wearing yellow tops and bottoms.

The Cipher Pol that were in the room got over their shock quickly, and began to rush us. I darted forward with inhuman speed and immediately crushed two of the scums heads with my hands, before standing up to my full posture in Maito Gai's Strong Fist opening stance. I signalled with my front hand, with the universal sign to "come and get me", and the rest howled and jumped forward.

Luffy and Ace dealt with the two peripheral attackers, before they even knew what was happening. One second, they were trying to flank me, then they were met with a huge rubberized fist, or a gauntlet of flame. This took them both out of commission, the blunt force trauma and scorching flames too much for them. The two attacking me transformed mid-flight, one gaining a heavily muscled Rhinoceros's skin, horn and bulk, while the other glowed silvery. I punched the Rhino square in the schnoz, and backhanded the Mercury-Man away. Ace dealt with the Mercury-Man, using flames contained and controlled from hurting others, but hot enough burning to vaporize Mercury. The man screamed as he vaporized.

The Rhino was dead before he hit the ground, his hybrid physiology not being able to withstand the strength I levied, his nasal cartilage having shredded his brain like a 12 gauge shell at point blank range.

I looked at the scientists.

"You know... I use to think that it was the people like the Cipher's, the Admirals, and the Marines who were only above the Tenryuubito in being the absolute lowest form of scum on this planet. But then, I heard of you lot. Intellectuals. Scientists. Inventors. And you all think that it is OK to victimize and sacrifice children in the name of advancement? For the few who are rich enough to afford utilizing it to abuse others? You are the near damn equivalent to the apathetic arrogance of the Gorosei and their Tenryuubito... You deserve worse than death... But I am not that cruel." At the end of my sentence, despite having grown more nervous during my speech, the scientists breathed a sigh of relief.

"Which is why I sentence you to immediate execution. Ace, Luffy, make sure they never hurt any children again." I stepped back, as the gathered rats in lab coats instantly grew terrified and began shrieking about how they were only trying to advance science and so what if a few children got hurt, whereupon Luffy and Ace stepped up and smashed them into paste or burned them into ashes. The children were horrified, but I got their attention by beginning to talk in a calm voice as soon as the boys stopped their scene.

"I know what we just did looks really harsh. I know you may not trust us. However, I need to rescue you kids from this facility not just because I plan to sink this island, but because children should never be used as you are. Despite their large sizes, these two tall brats are my 11 and 13 year old grandsons. They would like to be your big brothers, and protect you." As I finished, there was quite a few kids that looked a little excited, and others that looked apprehensive.

"What if we want to go back to our parents?" One such mistrustful kid asked. I smiled.

"I will help any of you locate your parents if you want, and I shall do anything to reunite you if you want. However, I know for a fact that many of your parents are dead, sold you to the government, or are on the run. But I will do what is necessary, and I will not distract you if that is what you truly want." The boy looked slightly relieved, and many of the others relaxed a bit, no longer looking like tense scared cats.

"Alright, we'll do it." One of the larger children stood up, and walked forward. "What's your name, Oyaji?" The brat asked me with a slight grin, and eyes full of mischief. I snorted.

"I am known as Garp, little one."

Luffy and Ace gathered up the children, and led them to the bases highest level. I proceeded to the lowest, where there some things I intended to retrieve. With one hand, I took off the backpack I was wearing, and began to look around the basement for various items. Blueprints, notes on Devil-Fruit abilities, theories on Haki, and more than one Devil-Fruit itself. I finally came upon what I had been searching for.

Having my meta knowledge had proven very useful, the past three years had seen Garp's body acclimate to his physical training extraordinarily well, and his Haki training had been exceptional, but he was still missing the overwhelming nature of a Devil-Fruit in his physiology. While there were cons, there more pros as such. He had decided, with what he knew scientifically and theoretically, to try and find a fruit that controlled Radiation to try and benefit him the most.

Now he had found it. In one gulp, I ate the sour, tangy, lemony, lip-twisting abominably-tasting thing. Immediately, I felt immense changes in my cell structure. I was now accessing radiation of all wavelengths through some fundamental shift in my DNA. Grinning, I began thinking on what I wanted to do.

My eyes glowed green.

~Outside with Luffy and Ace~

"Ne, how long is Garp-oyaji going to be Ace?" The Strawhat wearing rubber-man questioned his older brother, as he began to tie the children to himself for flight utilizing his rubber nature. Ace snorted.

"He didn't say Luffy, only that we needed to get to the roof again, and wait for him." Luffy pouted, and went to retort, before an earth-shaking roar echoed from the depths of the facility. Ace looked at Luffy

"Tie to me right now, I'm taking off. Grandpa can jump to me if needed." Luffy nodded, turning to the children.

"Alright kids, we are going for a trip in the sky!" He stated with a wide grin.

"Like a bird?" One of the younger ones asked with wide eyes and a hand in his mouth.

"Just like that." Luffy gave a sun filled grin to the child, and they grinned back before waving their arms in the air. "Birdy, birdy, birdy." The excited kid repeated. In a few moments, Ace lifted off, taking Luffy and nearly 30 children with him. And not a moment too soon.

Soon after the roar had happened, and Ace had taken flight, the building began to flex slightly, then twist. Then, with an almighty boom, the entire middle of the facility was pulverized into splinters by a massive vertical shock-wave. Having circled to the side of the facility, Ace, Luffy and the children looked at the epicentre.

Standing in a perfect upended conical excavation of the redoubt, was their grandpa...Only his skin was green, his torso and lower legs had burst his outfit, and he was rippling under masses upon masses of dark jade muscles. With his hands clapped together over his head, and furious expression on his face, Garp looked on with grim satisfaction, before leaping out of the crater and stopping in the air beside Ace.

~Garp's/My Perspective~

The amount of gamma radiation in my body was now at a ridiculous level, and because of this I exhibited the characteristics of extreme strength that The Incredible Hulk possessed. While I probably would never be strong enough to become a "Heart of the Monster", "Space Hulk", or "Worldbreaker Hulk", I would be a fair bit stronger than anyone in this dimension, unless they were a genuine god. Since I had known about many things in the field of biology, and accompanying fields before I came to this planet, I was able to crudely form a process where I could access Hulk-like strength and as many other overpowering abilities in one shot as I could, and considering the Devil-Fruit's could offer access to fundamental energies and forces, I figured the Radiation Fruit had to exist. Considering Admiral Blind-san's Gravity fruit, I had searched the ends of the planet during the last three years in my build up to making sure Ace and Luffy were ready.

As well, my fruit wasn't just limited to enhancing my strength with radiation. It also could produce electromagnetic, gravitic and other effects. After all, according to many theoretical physicists, while the Nuclear Strong/Weak, Gravity, and Electromagnetism were fundamental forces arising from Zero-Point/Quantum Fluctuation, they were expressed through radiation. The human body was always interacting with it, just some is more harmful than others. So worth it to get this fruit, as I could now boost my strength, durability, regenerative properties, exhibit various phenomena, shoot energetic beams of charged radiation, and fly. While I was not telekinetic and could not read others minds, I was easily a fair match for an Alpha level telekinetic from Marvel Comics now. I don't know if I would ever reach Omega or Beyond Omega level, but that was one of the goals, because the monsters on this planet do NOT rest.

The kids were looking at me.

And I was revelling in my rage.

Shit

Dropping the visage quickly, I jumped into the air, and pumped gravitic and electromagnetic radiation around my body to give me flight. Quickly approaching Ace, Luffy and the kids, I dropped my expression to neutral.

"You have questions. Ace, you go first. Then Luffy. Then the kids from left to right, one at a time. Go." I stated quickly as we flew away from the Island, which began to collapse into it's centre.

"What did you just do Oyaji?" Uncharacteristic, but OK.

"I grabbed every bit of research, weaponry, fruits, and such that I could get my hands on. It was then I came upon what I was searching primarily for. A fruit I had heard of residing here, for the World Government was not done with researching it's effects. I ate it." Ace's face shifted a few times, but more less, he understood my actions. He knew by now that everything I did was for their survival, even if he couldn't see why right now.

"And that fruit you ate... Let you do that?" Luffy questioned me now, with wide eyes. I nodded.

"Indeed. This fruit is known as the Rad Rad Fruit. It allows me to control radiation in any form. You remember what I told you about the forces of the universe and radiation?" Ace and Luffy nodded while the rest of the kids looked confused.

"Don't worry if you don't know what I am talking about children. I will teach you just as I taught Ace and Luffy. I will make sure personally, that you can defend yourself in this world." I assured them, looking into each of their eyes for a moment, and meeting their troubled glances. Slowly, they all nodded, even the most weary.

"How does radiation increase your strength like that, Oyaji?" One of the smaller kids asked. Great, a brat who is able to pronounce the word radiation, that ones going to be a joy... Who am I kidding, I love teaching nerds, because I'm a nerd at heart.

"It's simple really. I suffuse my muscles, tendons, nervous system, ligaments, circular system, and all the organs I need to with massive amounts of energy that can let the cells take far more strain than they would normally be able too. With that, I created such a powerful clap with my hands, it amplified the sound to the point where the building was blown to pieces. It's a little more complex, but that is the gist of it." The child nodded, and the kids grew silent, thinking about what they could ask me next.

"What else can you do?" The biggest asked me.

"I'm pretty sure I can shoot blasts of energy, fly, and probably increase my strength to lift few mountains and maybe more up. Maybe more." I said assuredly.

During the silence that followed, we arrived back at home. A redoubt, underneath a shack, with a complex big enough to be Marineford. How? Time, strength, and the abilities of a superhuman builder and Haki user. There had been a few close calls, but I had accomplished it over the last 3 years. I just needed an army now.

Well, the first step was made.

I showed them to the bathing facilities and their rooms, and bid them clean up together before heading off to the kitchens and beginning to make dinner. I got Luffy to make the vegetables and pasta, while Ace prepared fruit drinks and deserts, and I got some of our boar meat out for them. A roast, for two hours, should be good. Especially since I was going to nab the vegetables from Ace and stick them in the gravy. Roast-cooked vegetables would make their bellies feel good after so long on whatever those monster's were feeding them. This, washed down with goat's milk, was what dinner would be.

Slowly, the children filed into the dining room, watching as Luffy, Ace, and I finished up the meal preparations and set the table. They watched wide-eyed as it was laden with food, and they were bidden to sit. A they did, the continued to stare at me. My eyes twinkled, as I slowly smiled.

"The only thing I ask you to do, is eat at a pace which will not shower the person next to you with food. As well, don't talk with your mouth full or training will be extra hard." Ace and Luffy stiffened when I said that, reinforcing the detail with the newcomers, as they watched the older two begin to sweat. The kids all grinned and then dug in with gusto.

"What kind of teaching and training were you talking about, Oyaji?" The eldest rescues asked.

"I will be training your mind, your body, and your power. Whatever special ability you have in each area, I will make sure is supplemented by a good understanding of the world, a good physical foundation, and that you exercise your powers in ways you never even considered. This way, you will face and defeat anyone who tries to take advantage of you. I do ask for your loyalty, but only because my teachings are dangerous in the wrong hands, and we have a responsibility with the power and knowledge we possess, to help be the change this world needs. As you well know, there is pain and suffering in the world, and the people who run it, they care not. To change the world, we need to free it. To free it, we need to be a power within it. To be a power within it, we must gather resources, train people, and gain more bases and territory. To do all that, we need to be trained to gain that from those who hold. To be trained to defeat and hold it from those who currently possess it, I must train

They all began to make light banter, and Luffy began to annoy Ace for his leftover food. Things got comfortable, and soon we were heading off to bed. I brought the children into their collaborative room with 30 beds, and sat them down on the centre rug to tell them a bed time story.

"I am going to tell you a story. But I want you think quickly, and amongst yourselves, choose a topic that you want to hear about. The story may or may not be true." I said, smirking as they began to huddle together, and started whispering. Finally, they stood up. One of them came forward.

"We want to hear a story about Magic." She said firmly. I nodded.

"Very well. I shall tell you a tale of creatures and spells, magic and might, gods and monsters. Hear from me children, the struggles of Bruenor Battlehammer and the Dwarves of Mithril Hall, their fight against the Dark Elves of Menzoberranzan, their alliance with the Dale and Ten Towns, the manipulations of Lolth, God-Queen of Spiders, and the freeing of the Demon-God, Demogorgon." With each further admission, the kids eyes grew wider and wider. I ended the story late into the night, telling them of a metal-knight who fell from the heavens with his fantastic companions and weapons, fought ancient daemons and monsters, and had triumphed in the name of those who could not themselves fight[essentially, I told them the story of "Halo: Finishing the Fight" by Red Mage 04, because it was one of the best Dungeons and Dragons stories ever written!]. Eventually, they were all asleep, and Ace, Luffy and I set about making sure they were all tucked in comfortably to their beds, and had soft lit candles providing low light on shelves besides their beds.

Soon, they would know more than pain, as I would teach them to triumph.

The three of us headed back into the kitchen.

"I suppose you two are wondering where the weapons I promised you are?" They nodded, but smirked expectantly, knowing I had not forgotten. They had seen my backpack after all.

"OK, I suppose I have left you in suspense long enough." I reached behind the counter and pulled my massive rucksack out, and rummaged about before grabbing two items.

"Luffy, it was hard for me to get a weapon that would specifically suited for your body and powers... However, I could not find an indestructible cannonball which would teleport back to you every-time you nailed some jerk with it." Luffy and Ace snorted at this, as the idea was perfect, but probably didn't exist. We didn't discount impractical though, this world had so many things hidden in it's dark corners

I handed him a staff.

"This staff is close, however. It can release stored kinetic energy in amplified physical blows, or create pressure waves. With your rubber body, and near mastery of it, I think you can find some way to charge it. I was thinking vibrating your skin and allowing the rubber properties to reverb may work at a high enough intensity..." Luffy accepted the gift with praise in his eyes, and stared at the staff before giving me a hug, which I heartily returned.

I then lifted up a breastplate, and turned to Ace.

"I had a hard time coming up with something for you Ace, that would aid you in combat, help your abilities, and not put a cap on what you can do. Then I found this breastplate mentioned in one of Vegapunk's files. He was making it for Admiral Borsalino." Ace's eyes shone with kleptocratic mischief, excited at being able to deny the light-headed idiot something. I snapped it onto his torso, and it hummed before activating.

"When active, it will automatically skim your fire energy from you in it's most dense, finest controlled state, but it requires your active concentration. This "suit" prototype as it were, was Vegapunk's next step in the Resistance Suit idea. Instead, here he was trying to make sure the subject could get a feel for naturally densifying their energy and finely controlling it, before switching the suit to resist such action so the subject could develop more of their Devil-Fruit muscles. With Kizaru, I don't even want to think what would've happened if he learned to compress light... But with you, Ace, you can start achieving that goal I set out for you... Gassification of everything you come across, even Magma." Ace looked up at me, as I set up the contraption. Miniature suns began to exude from his body, lit up intensely, but giving no heat as they were totally controlled. "Who knows what more you will be able to do..." I trailed off. Ace nodded.

"Now. I suggest you head off to bed. We have a lot to do tomorrow, and it's just the beginning." They nodded, and headed to bed. I stood up, went over to the cupboard, and opened an air tight compartment. A raunchy smell hit my nostrils as I retrieved a water pipe, and a fair amount of some leafy green.

Taking on the world is tough, I thought, as I sat on the roof of my shack, watching the stars. Taking a pull on my bong, I sat there with everything racing through my head. I had completed another step.

But would it be enough?

Only time will tell.

I felt myself start to drift into relaxation and sleep, so I set the perimeter defences on active, and fell asleep with a warm summer wind washing over my face and the stars and moon shining down on me.

~3 year Time Skip~

The kids were ready to begin missions now. They had their own squads as well. Luffy and Ace were now Commanders of Divisions 1 and 2 respectively, but I had forbidden the from naming our organization. Cheekily, they had taken to referring to it as "The Organization" in talk, and it was catching on. Of course, I did have a name, but I was keeping it to myself. It would require several massive conditions to be met first, and probably would not happen until after the time skip. The one where they would be in the Paradise Section of the Grand Line, on the other side of the Red Line. He would let them use "The Organization" for now, as it would add to the mystique when they went public and began acting in the open.

Chakra had been a failure. I had pinned a lot of hopes on trying to obtain a combination of spiritual and physical awakening so the kids could all be super powered without having to develop Haki or eat a devil fruit. I guess that this version of One Piece that I was in, was nowhere close to the Naruto Multiverse...

Huh, wait a second.

I could perform a near-Hulk like transformation, powers worked much like mutations, and there was physical will which was like Chi and Magic... The One Piece Multiverse, or at least the section I was in, was very close to the Marvel Multiverse...

HMMMMMMM. This opened up possibilities.

That would come far down the line though.

So I had experimented with many other things, and continued my experimentation with physical regimes. Saitama's regime had paid off, as I could punch shockwaves out of my fists that would make Saiyan-Saga Goku sweat, and Vegeta tremble just a bit. And it had started to pay off a lot more since I had retrieved the Rad Rad fruit... Maybe suffusing my cells constantly with the exotic radiations I had, gave me access to the insane exotic source that had fed into Saitama. I was nowhere near his upper levels though. I couldn't jump to the moon. I couldn't punch a continent to dust. I couldn't deck Superman...

But I could crush nearly anyone in this universe, physically.

I had also cheated. For the past three years, I had been skipping out once a week, and visited the future Strawhat Crew Members. To Nico Robin, I had left Poneglyphs in the night from M.D.G., alongside notes on how her fruit worked, and what she could do with the biology of it, theories of Haki enhancement and such. To Usopp, I had dropped the blighter into a secret library I had constructed for him, containing both Fiction and Non-Fiction, with instructions that if he read the non-fiction section as hard as he chased after stories, he would be able to be the ultimate sniper and weapon-smith.

To Franky, I had given materials for better cyborg-ery, instructions and manuals on how to run a Mafia better so the Government doesn't notice you, and theories on engineering better energy sources and better materials. Zoro, I had to visit physically, as he was suspicious. So, I had taught him as best as I could, the art of the sword, the art of the fist, and the art of Haki. He had refused a devil fruit, instead trying to develop his Haki even more. Given that Zoro in the series was almost in his prime when Luffy met him, he would be much stronger this time around with Garp having trained him and Haki having been accessible early on.

The thing about Haki and any fictional force, is it's only as well understood as the author wanted it to be, and for their own purposes. Limitations pop up in the weirdest ways, often arbitrarily at the authors insistence. So, working a force as a person in a fictional characters body, in a way that it had not been defined specifically... Was tough, but worth it. As it required an extreme breakdown of knowledge on the human body, it's processes, and how they could abstractually apply their energies to it. Considering that Haki was sheer willpower, it was one of the best energies, because it was pure potential being fed directly into mechanisms which always try to improve[scar tissue becomes tougher than skin].

Basically, Zoro had taught him that Haki could be as useful as Chakra, if applied to the body correctly and if the right training is undertaken.

Nami and Nojiko were both surprised at my appearance after they thought they witnessed Bellemere's death. Bellemere however, had been saved by me. Using a powerful wavelength of radiation, I had placed her in stasis the second she hit the ground, then healed her after Arlong had left. This shocked the two to their core, when they saw Bellemere sitting there in their basement. I had introduced them to the concept of acting, manipulations, and making sure they protected themselves, their family, and their community at all costs. I taught them to fight, to kill, to move stealthily, to use weaponry of any kind, and to use Haki. Their situation was little starker than the others, so I had to ensure that they would get a better leg up. This required a more lethal training package, but I had to ensure the three stayed together. Nojiko and Nami would make an excellent team, and great division commanders of what I envisioned to be my version of Yoruichi Shihoin and Soi-Fon's Sereitei Second Division. Bellemere would make an excellent division commander of a unit organized along the lines of the Marines, but stronger and of better quality. I would never train them to be sex-workers or seducers though. Women could get things accomplished without doing those things. Often the temptation of something was better than the act itself, so if Bellemere needed to get information she would simply look ravishing but never end up doing anything anyway.

Chopper, I had gone to him and the people in his life. The only that would happen now when the Strawhats got to Drum Kingdom, would be to kick Wapol's big free-loading butt. I gave everything I had on genetics, epigenetic processes, evolutionary theories, biology, chemistry, physics, and quantum mechanics to the doctors and witch of the Island. Choppers transformation's would be much more interesting this time around, and may even evolve into something... More..

Sanji, and Red Leg Zeff, I had left with several things. First, I had sat down with Old Man Zeff and we proceeded to get drunk with him for the first night, then ended up kicking the living shit out of each other while we were on vodka. In the end, he agreed to my proposal. I had told him of my ideas for "The Organization", and eventually he saw my way. The idea was to take Baratie with us, and ensure that wherever we went, people could grow their own food and cook wonderful meals. I had planned on Logistics Division, which would include Food, Medicine and more, so it was OK. As well, I had handed over a copy of my library on Haki, training, and other things the Baratie staff could use to prepare. And using my healing abilities, knowledge of cell regeneration, human anatomy, I regrew Red Leg Zeff's stump back to full functionality.

There were now 4 years until the start of cannon. I had many more kids to rescue, and the crew had yet to meet Whitebeard. Maybe it was time for that...

~On board the Moby Dick, Paradise, The New World~

"Gurararara, Garp, I've been told that you were dead!" The gigantic stature of Edward D. Newgate eclipsed even my immense height, as the giant grinned at him... He had to be 12 freakin feet tall. While not as tall as say one of the Giants in the Game of Thrones series, he was taller than Garp's body, standing as it was at 8 and a half feet[and even with his pseudo-Hulk transformation, he only came up to 10 feet].

"Rumours of my death have been greatly... Exaggerated, shall we say?" I replied with a smirk, meeting the mans visage. Newgate let out a massive belly laugh, frightening the children I had brought slightly, before settling down.

"I knew you always would have something to do in case you disappeared. You were too much of a compassionate individual to remain a marine Garp. So, tell me what have you been up to." Edward opened his eyes slightly, and gazed into mine. I raised an eyebrow.

"I have been raising my grandsons, and accumulating more grandchildren. There are many lost children in the world, and I have been saving them." Newgate peered closer at me.

"And training them." The question was left in the air.

Newgate wanted to know if I was planning on using the Children I had saved. And he would probably fight me to free them if I was. He was kind like that.

"Only inasmuch as I train them to defend themselves in this world. I do tell them that eventually I will be drawn into conflict with the world government, and they can choose to leave if they do not want to fight. There is no guilt in loving life." Edward smiled slightly at this. I continued.

"However, I make no illusions about the fact that whether they are with me in my mission or not, the government will most likely chase them. And while I can set them up in places where no one should ever be able to find them, I do not ever recommend this to them. I want them to have people they can rely on, and others they would love to defend." Newgate's lips thinned a little, and he remained silent for half a minute. Then he nodded.

"I see you haven't made the mistakes that your son has. That young Dragon is treading a dark path..." I nodded at the Yonkou's admission.

"Indeed. I have kept track of him closely, and his moves lately have disconcerted me. Whenever we can, we need to try and convert marines. That helps to subvert their entire structure. But Dragon is not doing any good for us there, as he slaughters any marines he comes across, letting them paint all of us as horrible murderers and inspiring more young souls to join up to a fruitless and corrupt cause. He won't listen to me, either, he is convinced of doing things his own way. Well, when my Organization goes into operation fully, he will see how little he is accomplishing and understand why I was so darn critical of him. Hopefully." I closed my eyes, crossing my arms. This was my current conundrum.

No progress with Dragon, at all. My one major failing thus far.

The little brat was stubborn to a fault, much like his old man[of whom I have begun to exhibit a disturbing similarity to in personality, almost like we are merging]. He had no give inside him, and planned on doing things his way and his way only. Damn brat.

"Ehhhhh... Can't catch a break with some brats..." Newgate mused, before turning aside and motioning us below deck to eat with the crew. I walked Ace and Luffy up to him. Both were nearly 7 feet tall now, Ace standing half a foot taller than Luffy as he was farther along in puberty than the 14 year old, just reaching the peak of hormones in his body.

"These two are Gol D. Ace, and Monkey D. Luffy. I know you know more than I do about the Legacy of D, and I am hoping you be willing to share possibly some of that with these two, as well as share some stories from your time aboard The Jolly Roger, when you crewed for the Pirate King." Edward stilled for a moment when I mentioned the will of d, but relaxed significantly when the conversation went to his old Captain, and he looked at Ace with a sympathetic expression.

"We will discuss what you know about that first bit later Garp, but for now I would be pleased to tell these two of what it was like to sail with Gol. D. Roger." The giant nodded, as he began to lead us downstairs to the feasting hall.

The dinner was exceptional, the company amazing. The stories were great, and well received. Finally, I had put the kids into some spare hammocks, Luffy and Ace were passed out having challenged Marko and Shanks to a drinking contest[Shanks had just randomly been sitting there when I had walked into the feast hall], and I was sitting on the deck with Newgate.

"... What exactly, do you know about the will of D, Garp?" Edward looked piercingly at me. I took a pull on a flask of vodka, and looked at the stars.

"Only that it exists. I cannot read Poneglyphs, I have only come across fragmentary research and no proper lexicons, but I have been told by researchers that there is something called the Will of D mentioned a lot. Considering my middle initial is D., and I was never told what it stood for, I decided to try and look further. Nothing. There was no information on it at all." I looked down into Newgate's eyes.

"Almost like it had been erased."

Newgate grimaced. "What you have stumbled upon is one of the lesser secrets of the world. However, the Will of D itself is one of the Higher Secrets. It would not do, to tell you or your grandsons this early on, what the Will of D is all about. I am compelled to see more of your actions, and how you plan to benefit the people before I share such things with you." Edward raised his eyebrows, and snorted. I grinned.

"So integrity and duty to the worlds people is part of it. Intriguing." Newgate's eyebrows shot up, then narrowed while chuckling lowly.

"Gurarara, you ARE an astute one Garp, I don't care what Sengoku says about you... As to what you have surmised, you are right. If seized by the wrong individual, the Will of D could destroy the world, which is why there is such strict requirements." I nodded at his explanation. Made sense. I shifted gears.

"Ace wants to apprentice on your crew for a few years. If you accept, I need Luffy and I to be able to visit him, his students as well, when we want to. He told me that if he was going to be a division commander, he wanted to be the best, and thus wants to learn under Marco. Is there any way you can make this happen?" I said easily, as I adopted a somewhat hopeful face. Newgate remained unreadable for a few moments, before a twinkle appeared in his eyes and he smirked.

"If you are a good person, can be a good brother, and be a dutiful son, then you are welcome on the Moby Dick. Can your grandson do that?" It was then that my expression turned cold.

"Only if you haven't hired or taken on a man named Marshall D. Teach yet." Newgate's expression turned quizzical, but he had recognized the name./

"Why yes, yes I have. Two years ago, in fact, I brought Teach into my crew after passing through a town that was abandoned. Teach said the marines had come and killed everyone, but he had gotten them in the end and buried them in the hills. We found the bodies of marines, and bodies of the villagers there. They were all killed by marine-style cutlasses except one marine which had his neck broken." I nodded along, the story was believable, and from what I understood, Teach had set his alibi perfectly.

Except the idiot was a complete psycho, and as such, they loved to get caught. Which I decided to pull out and give to Newgate.

"This is how I know of the Will of D, Edward. I found these, before the massacre, in his home village. His personal diaries. Detailing how he found a cave of Poneglyphs on the Will of D, how he wanted it's power to control or destroy the world, and how he needed to kill the people of that town and cover it up. You showing up to his island was just lucky for him, as he could use training under a powerful Yonkou and Inheritor of D." Newgate's expression grew stormier, and stormier as I talked, before breaking in a thundercloud of emotion and snatching the offered material away from my hand. Reading through it quickly, he got angry very quickly, before thrusting a hand skyward. A distortion was all I could make out in the blackness of night, then a rumble shook the sky. Just loud enough to be above thunder, not enough to wake anyone, but a massive display of power and emotion it certainly was.

"I am sorry if he's not what you had been told. I was angered when I came across the graves... He killed children, Edward... Babies even. There is no redeeming that one." Edward's eye's closed, and silent tears flowed down his face, for the children he had never known that had been slain. Every child was precious to him, it seemed, and it warmed my heart to see such similar compassion

"... Hooooo, I haven't been this angry in a while Garp. To have on of my own crew, do something like this, and for me to not even know... I nearly gave him access to such things he could have used to accomplish his goal... Whatever form it may be in..." Newgate's contemplation was right on target, as Marshall D. Teach was one slithery individual.

Huh. Edward D. Newgate and Marshall D. Teach... Historically, in my old world, Edward Teach was Blackbeard and one of the most feared Pirates of his age. Even so much that other pirates feared him. His crew loved him, and was a tight-knit group of individuals. So were Edward and Marshall the two sides of the Blackbeard I knew? One that his crew championed, one that his enemies believed in, the Whitebeard and Blackbeard? That would be something interesting to think about later on, as I focused back onto Newgate.

"Alright Newgate, I also have something for you, in recompense for meeting me and agreeing to help with what I'm trying to accomplish." Without warning, my hands shot forward, and I palmed his frontal shoulders. Energy crackled through, as he stiffened but didn't struggle. I bowed my head as powerful energy surged through me, and into the Vibration user.

Edward gasped, as the energy suffused throughout his body, first coating his hair, skin and extremities, then penetrating and bathing his organs, blood, bones, and gristle within, eventually concentrating on removing impurities and giving cells the ability to heal long-term injuries and deficiencies. He began to feel soooo strong, stronger than he had in years. It was like he was back on The Jolly Roger, and he hadn't fought Sengoku in a 3 week long battle. He stretched his arms out, as he began to glow, and his body hummed. The resonance built up, my radiation power harmonizing with his vibration emission, as we healed his body to his absolute potential. He may not have known what I did about the body, and energy, but he knew how to cooperate and match energy flows in intense situations, like a battle. Now he applied it to his body and allowed me to do the work.

I sweated as I forced massive amounts of radiation into The Strongest Man in The World. Not only was I gifting him massive improvement to his body, but he would now be immune to so much types of damage with the radiations I had toughened his body up with... Edward D. Newgate was now truly once more in a state of physicality where he could challenge the world. With a sudden deep shout, we broke the connection, and ceased the energy flow.

Having heard a commotion, Marco, Shanks, Luffy and Ace had come running, and witnessed the final moments. Marco had almost leaped at me, but Luffy had grabbed him and pointed out that Newgate was smiling massively, and standing straighter than he had in a while. After stretching straight to the sky, and cracking his back with a series of almighty pops, Whitebeard snapped forward. He grinned, and laughed.

"Truly, the Oceans shine on our meeting today, Monkey D. Garp!" He exclaimed, grasping me in a one-armed hug. I smirked, and began to laugh alongside him.

"Pops, you okay yo-yoi?" The 1st Division Commander asked apprehensively, worried we had changed his Yonkou. Newgate grinned.

"Never better Marco my boy! Garp here healed me!" Marco became slackjawed.

"Wha-?" Whitebeard dismissed him.

"I am now at the physical level I was, before I fought Sengoku for Three Weeks straight, and I possess the knowledge of all my years. I am now even mightier than before." I poked him in the ribs as I stepped away.

"Good. I don't want to take the title of World's Strongest Man from someone who could've been stronger!" With that exclamation, I concentrated on Gamma Radiation, and infused my cells with massive amounts. Growling as bones, muscles, tendons, organs and such grew and increased in size, the crew assembled watched in wonder as I grew to two feet shorter than Whitebeard, but nearly twice as wide in musculature.

Marco and Whitebeard were both at a loss for words this time. Ace and Luffy were grinning however, knowing what I can do, and had magically manifested a groggy Shanks in between them who was looking suspiciously at me despite being in a drunken stupor. I grinned at him, and pointed at his arm and nodded my head. He looked nervous and shook his head.

"Oh come on you big pansy, it's not gonna hurt you. Luffy, Ace, bring the prisoner forward." Shanks began to give the pretense of struggling mightily, but his heart wasn't there after seeing what happened to Whitebeard, and he was grinning anyway... The two teenage menaces brought him forward, and I repeated the process with Shanks, asking him to concentrate his Haki on his body and returning/improving him to maximum potential of his abilities. It was over in a few flashes, Shanks now flexing his new had experimentally and marvelling at the equal muscle proportions on both his arms, new and old.

"You do damn good work there Garp. Never would've expected a marine to do that for me... Even an ex marine." I opened my mouth to protest, but became silent as he finished up. What a troll.

"That is enough excitement for tonight. We should all head to a hammock and get some rest." I said before motioning us all downstairs. The third deck was sleeping quarters, and we all began to get to bed peacefully.

"Garp, we will discuss Teach's fate tomorrow." Newgate whispered to me before moving to his hammock. I nodded discretely.

Unfortunately, Teach had been awake for some of my conversation early on with Newgate, and had left. Hopefully he hadn't witnessed the light show. He had knocked out the guard to a life boat though, and apparently had stolen a Devil-Fruit.

"That wouldn't happen to have been the Yami Yami[Dark Dark] Fruit would it?" I looked at Ed inquisitively. He shook his head, as he rested against his massive naginata./

"Unknown. It was a dark purple fruit, but we had not discovered anyone who knew what it does. Maybe it could have been the legendary darkness fruit, maybe not." I raised an eyebrow at that exclamation.

"Legendary? Why legendary?" Newgate snorted.

"Apparently, the Darkness fruit can absorb anything you throw at it, being that Darkness absorbs everything." It was my turn to snort. Conceptually, I can make an argument against that.

"Hah. What a crock of shit. There are many things that outright banish the dark. Fire. Light, Stars. Many things exist which can defeat the dark. That is not say it is not powerful. Our powers rely more on willpower and more abstract things then finite fixed concepts... Doflamingo is an example I do not like, but accept as a powerful individual. If you had seen what he did to Vice Admiral Fujitora, you would understand what I mean." Newgate nodded.

"Yes, I had heard that he stopped an entire bombardment of giant space rocks, by cutting them to dust." I nodded.

"They are called Meteor's, Edward, meteor's." Newgate smirked.

"The Garp I knew was not so worldly. Once you were much simpler, you know." His tone carried a hint of a question.

"I realized that my lack of knowledge was letting whippersnappers half my age get one over me, on more than a few fronts. Since I don't tolerate young maggots swaggering around like they know and own all there is in the world, I decided enough was enough with my ignorance and I needed to start knowing a lot more. Of course, it led to me formulating plans, once I found how extensively the parasites are embedded in the world systems." Newgate nodded along with my assessment, agreeing. It was much along the lines of the motions he had went through as a young man, watching all the injustice in the world.

"Hmph. Garp, you have my hand, and those of my sons if there is a battle you need us to stand by you in. As thanks for the good you have done for this crew and it's future. But I will not put my organization underneath yours. If we do things together, it is as partners, agreed." I nodded. There probably wasn't a better combination than the two strongest men in the world. In fact...

Once that combination in the form of Gol D. Roger and Edward D. Newgate had shook the world. And with the Dark King Silvers Rayleigh guiding them, the crew of The Jolly Roger were nigh unstoppable. Newgate was nervous about letting that power into anyone's hands, especially given the nature of Roger's noble sacrifice. One had to live up to the lofty ideals held in Newgate's head, in order to stand in the spot Roger had when he had taken on the world, and was one of the reasons that Newgate had never allied with Monkey D. Dragon.

"Then it's settled. Our "crews" are now blood-brothers and sisters who will come to each others call when in need." Newgate smiled, but started when I said "sisters". Huh, guess the rumours of him not doing well with the opposite sex were true.

"Look, Edward, just because you don't understand girls and women, doesn't mean they cannot be honourable warriors of the sea and be on a ship. Damn the cannonballs an all that bilge-bunk about women being bad luck, it's been my pleasure to serve with some of the most talented men and women to sail the ocean blue. Give it a try, and you will find that your boys and sons will do better with some sisters around to grow up with. Brothers and sisters grow better together. Also. Men grow better with women..." Newgate paled as I tailed off.

"Well I'll be... Is the worlds strongest man afraid of women?!" I laughed in Garp's hearty and teasing tone, as Newgate downright blushed. Hah.

"Ed, you need to get over that. You could use a strong woman in your life, and D knows that you deserve to have a good person in your life who can appreciate you in a way your sons cannot." Ed slowly nodded, after thinking this through. I sighed, and got up, stretching.

"Well, it's been a grand time all around Edward D. Newgate. Give my best to Shanks and tell him to come around when he can. Don't be afraid to call for a good meal." Edward grinned, as I took to the sky and the group joined me. Luffy once again secured the group, and Ace flew them.

"Ace. You are now an apprentice of the 1st Division Commander, Marco. You will report to him with your belongings in one week. I limit you to only your survival gear, and your own weapons and armour. Nothing that cannot be used, is to be brought." Ace nodded, as he began grinning, while going deep into thought about his future apprenticeship.

"Luffy, while Ace is going to be training with Marco, you will training under Shanks. He will be training you in developing your own style for your Bo Staff. He may not be a Bo master, but he is a master of formulating strikes, stances, and calculating the capability of a weapon. I've witnessed him use over a dozen different swords of varying thickness and length, so he could be able to help you develop a style for your staff. And paired with your rubber powers, this will multiply your combat powers many-fold." Luffy nodded in anticipation.

We headed home, and began to plan a new phase of operations. Time to get things started for the cannon...

And that meant for me, that it was TIM THE TOOLMAN TAYLOR TIME! Mentally wringing my hands, I was anticipating doing some "Home Improvement" of my own on the ship[s] we would be using. Oh boyohboyohboyohboy! Anyway, things were going to begin very soon. Time to ramp up recruitment, increase my holdings, and prep the fleet.

That's right. The fleet.

I had planned several ships, totally in excess and radically advanced beyond anything that One Piece had ever seen. The engineer's, shipwrights, fabricators, master smiths, and others I had procured over the last six years had been hard at work studying the materials he had given them on advanced science and technology, building massive ship-yards, processing plants, and refining yards where the materials were directly mined. The island I had grabbed for them, was in the farthest reaches of the East Blue, in areas unknown to the Gorosei, and was perfect for what I wanted.

Over the time of six years, and utilizing the many abilities of Devil-Fruit's we had accumulated, a sizable Mega-Structure was wrought upon the Island. One that even COBRA or perhaps the Ancients would be proud of. Who am I kidding, the Ancients would think I was still a primitive barbarian and COBRA wouldn't blink before trying to steal it... Back to the island.

I called it Tartarus, the island. Because from it's depths, I would launch a second Titanomachy, assail the Gods on their Olympic Mountain, destroy the mewling Marine demi-god overlords and establish a New Order free from such things. From it's depths, Titan's would emerge.

Preliminary ship names had been pulled directly from my world history.

Yamato, Musashi, Bismarck, Tirpitz, Iowa, Missouri, Hood, King George V, Potemkin, and Kursk. Around 800 metres long. Highest refined steel alloy, with titanium, vanadium, iridium[plentiful on this planet, it seemed a lot had crashed into the ocean], and several other alloys to allow it to be resilient and durable. 4 quadruple turrets, carrying 18 Inch guns. 12 secondary 8 inch guns. 20 2 inch Gatling guns. And while he had taken blueprints and actual prototypes of Laser weapons from Vegapunk's lab's, he had held off on using them for now, because he wanted to study them and create something far more powerful... Something that had only been whispered about in his home universe...

These ships would each have 4 300 metre destroyers, 8 submarines, and one carrier. The carriers and planes were a loooooooooong way off from me gathering the needed minds to invent, but the destroyers and submarines were nearly there. In fact I had held off on the planes and carriers for a reason. To see if I could push beyond Bernoulli's principle. I did not know if it could work officially in my old world as reports of it were scant, but being in One Piece made me want to try and find some way to give my forces Antigravity much like what Nick Fury and SHIELD had developed in the Ultimate Marvel Universe.

Yeah, baby, I'm talking fleets of Helicarriers, Helibattleships, Helicruisers and much more. Big Guns in the air!.

We would have to see. For now, watching the launch of these 8 ships is just about the most pleasing thing I have seen in a long time. And I have complete crews for each. The Tirpitz was to be my flag ship, Luffy would be commanding the Hood, and Ace wanted the Yamato for his own. Easily doable, I had brought my entire naval cadre along, and introduced them to the ships they would be manning.

Now, being that this was One Piece and both personnel capabilities and technology were a little different, the internal guts had a much simpler layout and I had managed to cut down the amount of personnel I needed for each ship, but they still managed to need at least 35 people. Since one person could man all the guns, with the computerization I had gained, there really only needed to be an expert marksman running gunnery on each ship, even with their gargantuan size... Any shipwrights/engineers that served aboard would know Haki and Soru[Shave], and would be able to zip around quickly as needed. Navigators would be able to feel the entire ship with enough mastery and understanding of the Armament Haki and Ship Anatomy.

Plus, could you imagine the face of someone like Akainu, after he jumps into the air, sends a magma fist at the ship, it flashes black before the thing hits, and shrugs the explosion completely? Again, he absolutely had to get better surveillance cameras going in his settlement. Some moments that were going to happen were just going to be too much...

My main success in getting ship production, and in general, materials production to happen, was the fact that I had nabbed an Earth Earth Fruit user. One who could literally pull mountains out of the Earth, once well trained enough. He had been one of the children rescued, with the original destruction of Shatterstar Island, and had been proud to be able to aid "The Organization" for his "Godfather".

Maybe I had told them the story of Tony "Scarface" Montana and Don "The Godfather" Corleone one too many times... But it made me from laugh...

"Today, my grandsons, and granddaughters, we begin our momentous mission, only out in the open. Two ships will reconnoitre each of the Blue's, in order to gather definite intel on who is hostile and who is friendly in each region. Each ship will be accompanied by 35 Veteran Division warriors, 2 Lieutenants, and 1 Division Commander. We will not send a whole division into such a situation, because we want only the strongest and most efficient on this run. We are trying to stay low-key, and sending hundreds of troops with each ship will eat resources before you begin your cruise back, and thus once you begin seeking port for supplies, you would garner massive attention... Given that even the Buster Call ships do not possess this size." I gazed over the assembled hand-picked best of their categories and classes.

"But remain on the seas, and we maintain our Maskirovka, for many will think we are the World Government, The Marines, or the Gorosei, running some program to prototype large ships of steel. That is the image we will strive for in the next two years. In two years, the fleet will begin marching across the East Blue, annihilating corruption, and leaving ghosts in it's wake." With a resounding cheer, the sailors all saluted me in the traditional naval fashion, about faced, and boarded their vessels.

The other great success I had stolen from Vegapunk's? Much like the infamous Doctor Gero of Dragonball and Z fame, Vegapunk had invented a form of a perpetual motion reactor, and was using it to power his experiments and constructs, much like the later on display of the Pacifista's. These were at the heart of his industry, and produced the necessary electrical and motive power necessary. One Piece was pretty wicked it seemed. This meant I didn't need anything like oil, gas, and coal, and had no need to refine and play with wind, solar, and hydro-electric[which still contain damaging effects as wind turbines create magnetic distortions that kill bird flocks because their brains fly by aligning ions with the magnetic fields, solar panels are a combination of rare minerals mined in horrific conditions in Africa and any solar panel more efficient than 15% is snapped up by the Advance Warning Classification System which has now ballooned to 10,000+ during Obama's time, and Hydro-electric damaged the biosphere it was in]. I was directly accessing the fluctuations of Quantum Energy that were inherent in the physical universe but said to be hard to cohere. Well, here it had been done.

2 more years until canon. The deck had been stacked as best as I could. And while I had not succeeded like a certain Niidaime Rikudou Sennin had with a reborn Uzushiogakure no Sato in another One Piece Universe I had read about before this bullcrap began, I was slowly moving into position to become as great as his nation.

It was the only way to make the government change in this world, without losing my grandsons, and making sure that it wasn't a series of unconventional events that led to it's abolishment, but rather a revolutionary movement that gave power and protection back to the people.

~Chapter End~

Author Note: This One Piece story is being done as an exercise to improve my interpersonal interactions, while I go about trying new ways to improve my main story, Mantle Across A Starry League. I need to work on my dialogue and character interactions before I go back to that story, as it's a little more to manage than I thought at the time. However, I am back to writing again, and I want to make sure my stories ALL get completed. As well, I already have a great framework for Mantle, and as you can see in this first chapter I have great plans for this story. And while not everything will work, I have fixed the deck quite strongly here.

The Dungeons and Dragons story is a crossover with the Halo 3 game, by Red Mage 04, and is called em"Finishing the Fight"

The Niidaime Rikudou Sennin story I mentioned is by Yami Hateshiginai and called "Rise of the Whirling Tides", which I heartily recommend

Comments welcome. Flames will feed the Eternal Fires of Zom.