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Prologue

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Grand Line was the big company of the moment in the music industry.

Kpop had risen out of nowhere for most occidental people and had suddenly taken a great part of the market, catching the attention of the media and big companies out there. It had taken some years to catch up with the music style Kpop generally worked with, but statistics were statistics and the genre slowly grew on the streets, gathering crazy fans pretty much everywhere. Doflamingo didn't particularly think it was the music itself that drew the attention, but the concept. That's what interested him, that's what he could sell.

The idea was simple. A big company gathered rookies whose dream was to become artists. They took in potentially good talents at a very young age and established a training program that lasted for years. If the kid had become what they expected, he could be put into a group that would carefully be planned and worked on until they made a launching debut. They could also go solo, go for acting, whatever they fit in. The idea was the training and what they ended up becoming. Idols. Idols that fans would stick to no matter what because they ended up loving their persona. Almost like a magnet.

That's what caught Doflamingo's attention. To his particular materialistic point of view it was a way to create a perfectly polished product, something that would sell, something planned from the very start, each piece worked to perfection and fitting where he'd want to.

That's how Grand Line came to life being the first kind of company going for this working and music concept in western countries.

And it killed it.

Doflamingo had contacts, Doflamingo had money and Doflamingo had the will to kill it, so Doflamingo killed it.

Young artists from around the world started auditioning, the queues slowly becoming larger and larger, the applicants growing in number and talent. Lots of them went back home with their hopes crushed. Doflamingo only wanted the best in his team. But kids and teenagers kept coming and his training programmes began. The best artists in the market were employed to teach the kids and teens what they were to become like, to polish their vocals and make them unforgetable, to train their dance skills so that they could adapt to everything and anything they faced, the acting skills were basic.

Grand Line first debuted solo artists in order to test the waters. Young people who could and would take the market on their own without the need of a group as a background. First it was Cavendish. The young pretty face took the scene with a wink and the kind of smile that made knees tremble. The amount of young girls screaming his name at the top of their lungs increased in less than the board of the company had expected, and with a bunch of really good and tactical promotions Cavendish became the big thing from day to night.

In less than a blink of an eye, Grand Line was bathing in money and awards that the young man brought home for them with his own sweat.

Next thing was Boa Hancock. They had expected it to be tougher, it was always more difficult with girls, with all the judjamental stuff they went through. But she fucking killed the charts. If Cavendish had become the big thing, she had become The Queen. The amount of magazines proclaiming her the most beautiful woman on Earth was insane and the amount of hardcore fans she gathered was something else. She went for everything. She debuted as a solo artist, both singing and dancing her first hit "Beautiful". People were blinded by her talent but specially her beauty and charisma. In the end that was exactly what moved ginormous crowds. She was quickly introduced to the acting scene and did just as well since her sudden fame preceded her wherever she went, and her talent in pretty much everything she did helped her case.

Doflamingo was like a child in Christmas. He had known Boa would make it far. She was his small jewel, he had seen her audition and personally ordered her entrance in the company training system, already scheming great plans for her. And he had been spot on. She had become what he expected, even better.

From then on, a few solo artists made it through Grand Line and succeeded, both in the music and acting field.

Khoza's name made it quite far.

Hina and Sadie were the first group launched. It was a duo. They were called "The Unit". Grand Line had bet their money on them as a team and got their payback. They made it up the charts through lots and lots of strategical promotions and a bold "bad girl" concept that caught attention and created controversy but ended up succeeding and doing really well.

A few years went by and the youngest trainees reached the age were they could start being promoted. Grand Line had already become a big name by then and established itself in the music industry as one of the big companies, its training program system becoming a huge deal that made others try that kind of system without nearly as much success, but still presenting tough competence.

Then came the real jewel.

They were called The Muses. Nico Robin, Nami, Vivi Nefertary, Jewlery Bonney and Rebecca. They owned the market and became the greatest girl group out there in roughly two years, selling out their world tour and making the music industry go nuts with such a wild phenomenon.

Because they were a phenomenon.

Not only did they have hardcore fans as a group, they also had fans as individuals, crazy and ready to rip heads if somebody badmouthed them. It became crazy, Doflamingo couldn't believe his luck. But hey, he, along with the headboard and training artists, had put them together, each of them carefully examined before deciding they'd be part of The Muses. It was a clinically formed group. A group that succeeded like none had before. It combined bold characters with more reserved and shy ones appealing to all kinds of potential fans. And they were all determined and ready to give everything they had to get to the top. Which they were currently doing.

It wasn't only the perfectly strategic promotions, nor their catchy songs and lyrics or breathtaking choreographies, it was each one of their characters, their individual charisma and persona, that's what attracted the fans, who slowly casted them in roles and helped to solidify their images as "this" or "that". They were the ladies young girls wanted to be like, they were the women both men and women desired as they saw them on screen performing perfectly coordinated dance moves, singing live and killing it while beaming a smile to the public as if they weren't doing the slightest effort.

They were a product. A great selling product. Doflamingo's greatest product after Boa.

And so came the day were a boy group project came to the headboard's tables. It had been two years since The Muses had made it big. It was about time Grand Line threw something new and fresh out in the market. It was time for Grand Line to come up with a product that killed it again. It was time for Grand Line to surpass itself once again.

The boyband was to be named "One Piece".

It was only a matter of deciding who would be in it. They had quite a lot of male trainees that could be good candidates, and some of them had already been spotted.

"They have to be a magnet, they have to be the best. We have to offer the best product in the market," Doflamingo declared with a predatory smile. "So, gentleman, let's put our brains to work."

Everything had to be analyzed. Personality, image, skills, balance in the group, charisma, presence, looks. They had lots of work to do if they wanted to manufacture the perfect matching team.

"Do you have any suggerences?" Crocodile asked from his seat, his permanently bored expression toughly directed at Doflamingo. He was one of the few people who didn't actually feel taken aback or intimidated by Doflamingo's power and influence. He was as much of a successful businessman as Doflamingo was and he had never ever flinched in his presence, nor had he had the need to pretend not to do so.

Doflamingo smirked when he caught a slight defying gleam in Crocodile's apparently uninterested expression.

"There are a few names that, I believe, have to be there. Please, be open-minded about this, I know the idea of some of them together might surprise or even bother some of you."

Crocodile raised an unimpressed eyebrow as the headboard directed all of their attention to Doflamingo, slightly wary at the warning.

"So? Please, enlighten us."

"And, exactly, who the fuck thought it would be a good idea to put these two idiots together in a fucking group?" Kid demanded with a frown as he watched Sanji's roundhouse kick land against Zoro's forearm.

He was pissed off. Why had he been put in a fucking group? He had come here to make it solo, fuck the headboard and their retarded success plans! What the hell was he even doing here?! But he couldn't say no, of course. If Grand Line had put him there after so many years spent as a trainee it meant that that's exactly where they wanted him. And if they wanted him there it meant they didn't want him anywhere else. Which meant he was stuck with that bunch of idiots in the training room with a very bad mood and zero motivation.

"You know, if you two would just stop fighting we might get a chance to start rehearsing," Law pointed out with his trademark deadpan expression, arms crossed and back against the wall. They didn't listen, of course. What was the point in being the leader of the damn group if they weren't going to obey or even listen to him? Not that he cared too much, Law used to give no fucks if he wasn't in a rush and they had plenty of time for now as far as he knew.

"You damn marimo bastard! Repeat that again!" Sanji howled as he bodily threw himself to Zoro yet again.

"I said you are an idiot curly-brow, curly-brow!" Zoro snarled as he dodged the next attack.

"I swear these two idiots have some misplaced brain cell," Ace sighed, raising an eyebrow at them but quickly turning to the take-away food he, Sabo and Luffy were sharing on the ground. If they weren't going to train anytime soon they'd rather eat something while watching the show they were being offered.

Law approached them and sat by their side, apparently reaching the same conclusion.

"Want some?" he waved a pot of noodles to Kid, who was sat by the other side of the room. Kid pointedly ignored him and Law shrugged in response.

"Woaaah! That one was good Sanji! Oh- And Zoro, wow, that was a good one too!" Luffy cheered far too loud for everyone else in the room as he watched the fight with sparks in his eyes and forcefully pushed food into his mouth even when there shouldn't have been any space left. But Luffy was like a human vacuum so, of course there was space left when it came to food.

"Luffy, shut up and eat or Ace will inhale your ration," Sabo warned as he stuffed his mouth with hot noodles.

"What! No way! Ace, don't you dare!" Luffy screeched turning back to Ace with a murderous glare. Ace ignored him.

"Oi, kiddo, you're far too loud! Shut your trap!" Kid barked from the other side of the room, visibly pissed at the whole situation.

"You're even louder, Kid," Law calmly pointed out without turning to look at him.

Kid barked something back but it couldn't be heard over the sound of Sanji and Zoro killing each other and almost destroying their rehearsals room. Not that Law would have given a damn had he heard what he had to say. Luffy and Ace were far too absorbed in their food-inhaling activities to even notice anything else around them. Sabo sighed, already feeling a headache forming.

So yeah, the new boy group Grand Line was going to debut in the near future, One Piece, consisted of Law as the leader, then Kid, Ace, Sabo, Zoro, Sanji and Luffy.

And it was going to be a tough path for them to endure if their first meeting as a group was anything to go by.

TBC

A/N: Hello there! This is a new AU I just started. I started writting it for fun since I wasn't really inspired with my other two ongoing fics and I needed a bit of a change to clear my ideas. I am still working on Come Back, it's just that's it's taking longer than I thought and I used this story to take a small break. I wasn't going to post it as it was only a few ideas put together, but it just grew on me and now I am kind of excited about it xD

So yeah, this is just a prologue to put everything into place. I am not planning for it to be a fic I upload regularly since I still put most of my efforts in Come Back, but I have a few things written about this one and I will be posting them as I write and polish them.

Please tell me what you think, I am kind of nervous since this is a pretty new atmosphere I am putting them in and I'd like to know your opinion. I've been pretty interested in some K-pop groups recently and I thought the whole concept they work with is interesting and different from what we have around here, and it popped in my mind that I could take that kind of system and concept and put it in Doflamingo's manipulating hands with Zosan 'stuck' in it. Poor them xD

I think it's a pretty interesting atmosphere to place them in as well, their characters could work well in here, I am just experimenting.

Thanks for reading this, I really hope you enjoy it and find it as interesting as I do, and please give your opinion on it if you have the time, it's really useful to me! ;)

See you in the next one!