Alright, whaddup folks! It's been quite a while since I have written a fanfiction for One Piece and I honestly think that this dry period should end right now. Especially because I've been bitching a whole lot about a story that I actually really like. So, sorry? Anyway, this is the prelude with some teasers for the first chapter of an alternate timeline, the main characters – again, you know me – are both Sanji and Nami, but there will be others. Be warned about ooc-characters, though. As I said, it's an alternate timeline in which Sanji's mother passed away during child birth, making it impossible for her to nourish the humanity that Sanji still had in him. I really don't want to spoil too much, but be prepared for him being a general jerk and using weapons.

Prelude

The clock struck 1pm and he was still nowhere in sight, even though he must have known that their employer did hate late arrivals with a passion. Not even their slightly elevated position would be very useful if he decided to have their heads on a whim.

Royals, he thought with a joyless smile.

For all his travelling, it was still rather difficult to grasp the concept. Not even the concept, but the fact that many of these people vehemently defended the legitimacy of their sovereign. Some cultures venerated their respective rulers because – or so they said – they were godsend or were even believed to be celestial progeny, while others respected the royal family because of – as the others would say – might makes right.

Enormous military might was indeed enough of pillar to keep almost everyone on top, even if that particular person was lacking even the most basic - and funnily enough in his eyes, the most human – qualities.

But he could ponder about these particularities more or less indefinitely and would never reach a satisfying conclusion. Fortunately, he didn't need to as he finally heard and smelled his friend and colleague approaching. Smelled, not because of showers he should have taken, but because of the special and strong brand of tobacco he was smoking.

That tobacco wasn't the only peculiar thing about him. His friend was slightly taller than him and had completely white hair, a rare attribute even when one was taking the whole of the Grand Line into account.

"I'm late", the other man noted and they shared a glance and a grin.

"Tell me something new. Anyway, are there unexpected developments regarding the boy?"

"Nope, nothing. He's more restless than ever, but that's about it. As unhappy as ever with his current physical state, even moreso when compared to his siblings. What are you going to tell the king?"

He shrugged.

"Some of the details he wants to hear, way more about the things that he needs to hear. The situation is royally botched as it is, we might as well stick through it and enjoy it from the front row."

The other one nodded and finally crushed the cigarette under his heel, gesturing towards the great wooden door they were standing beside.

"After you."

"Stone, Avian, how nice of you to finally arrive mere five minutes after the appointed time", their employer began by as he was rising from his chair. An imposing behemoth of a man witch a chest as broad as a wardrobe and a ferociously looking blonde mane on his head.

"The both of you actually know that it's very impolite to let a king wait?", before one of them could answer, he continued. "I'd have your heads if I wasn't giving you the benefit of the doubt that you might actually hold important informations regarding the development of my children. Don't prove me wrong."

The men looked at each other and slowly nodded, then the larger one produced sheets obviously containing some kind of data from a folder he was carrying under his arms and placed them in front of the king.

"As His Highness can see, the physical development of His children can be considered complete. Princes Ichiji, Niji, Yonji and princess Reiju are fully capable to outrun any specimen of the type MSP with ease and without breaking a sweat, we conducted tests on a specifically designed obstacle course in the last week, having each of them participate a hundred times. This same course did cost the .. resource of 37 MSP just during the testing phase, 65 more of them were grievously wounded and had to be euthanised shortly after. His Majesty's children, however, could have run the same course a hundred times more and there would be little to no measurable difference regarding their resting and strained pulse.

With last month's results of the hand-to-hand-combat tests against an increasing number of type MST specimen in mind, the whole team concluded Your Majesty's children are physically more than ready to use their customised raid suits to their full efficacy."

The king rested the cold gaze of his steely blue eyes upon them and both knew that he was waiting for the results of his last son.

"Prince Sanji's tests, as Your Majesty might already have anticipated, unfortunately had slightly different outcomes. During the unarmed combat tests, he was able to hold his own against up to a maximum of nine MST specimen, the tenth one finally enabling the soldiers to overpower him while His Majesty's other children went undefeated against the maximum number of 20 MST. Prince Sanji's results in the endurance test were more comparable to his siblings, though. He managed to complete each of the 100 runs through the course but suffered second-degree burns to his extremities and a rib fracture.

Other than that, His Majesty might want to keep in mind that while his strained pulse is significantly higher than his sibling's, there is still a vast difference between him and even the most specifically trained MSP specimen, hinting at the possibility that His Majesty's prenatal treatment might still be able to hold the same final results as with his siblings, if only they are taking longer to manifest."

No one could say what the king would do with these informations, he just silently sat over his desk, glancing from Avian to Stone and back again.

"What about their command training?", the large man asked with a growling voice.

"Your Majesty might be more pleased with these results", Stone began and placed his own sheets, containing both statistics with densely described annotations to them and the theoretical scenarios of the conducted tests in front of the king.

"Our team conducted tests on standardised theoretical combat scenarios, containing the defence of a ship, counter-offensive scenarios after a successful defence, raiding of enemy supply lines, asymmetric warfare .."

"Spare me with the details and tell me about the results!", the royal shouted, hammering his fist on the desk.

Unusual, Stone thought. The king was a scientist of renown himself and could normally be bothered with even the smallest of details. Only when it came to his children and, especially, his problem child, all traces of patience were erased.

"As Your Majesty wishes. The results for all of your children are entirely satisfactory with slight divergences when it comes to specific scenarios. Each managed a to achieve a Kill/Death-ratio of 10:1 in a balanced scenario, dropping to 6:1 for Prince Yonji, 7:1 for Prince Niji, 9:1 for Prince Ichiji and Princess Reiju and – an outcome which astounded us all – remained at 10:1 for Prince Sanji when the odds were stacked heavily against them in a defensive scenario.

When put on the offense against a heavily fortified enemy stronghold, Your Majesty's children averaged in at a 7:1 Kill/Death-ratio with Prince Yonji coming in last with a ratio of 5:1 and Prince Sanji leading the group with 9:1.

That being said, Prince Yonji would have taken the fortification in the smallest amount of time at 27 minutes, closely followed by Prince Sanji at 29 minutes, Prince Ichiji at 31 minutes with Princess Reiju coming in last at 35 minutes."

The king was frowning and Stone thought that he must have been asking himself how his thirdborn son could achieve these amazing results, putting himself before all of his siblings.

"How could Sanji achieve such a feat? His men would have managed to kill more enemies while he was still able to take the stronghold in a reasonable amount of time. Did he try to cheat the system?"

"Your Majesty is asking an important question. Our evaluation has shown that Prince Yonji managed to take the fortress by force while burning through much more of the available ressources, in this case ammunition and soldiers. Prince Sanji, on the other hand, would have both used himself and a small amount of soldiers as a decoy and favoured an approach that didn't favour full frontal assault. According to our evaluation, the chance of his men taking the defenders by surprise were high enough to have a significant influence on the end results. That being said, with him using himself as a decoy, the possibility of receiving heavy – and maybe deadly – wounds increased by a large amount."

Stone glanced to the side to catch Avian nodding.

"Your Majesty, the results of these tests give us enough of an indication that Prince Sanji, while his physical and martial prowess might not yet be on the same level as his siblings, shows incredible potential on a tactical and strategical level. He might need some more years to reach the same level, but could prove himself to be an invaluable asset of Your Majesty's army.", Stone finally concluded and took a step back. When it came to the subject of Prince Sanji, the king tended to overreact, especially when someone had the audacity to tell him that he just needed a little more time.

"A FEW YEARS?! Don't overbid your hand, Stone! I already have military commanders and strategic advisors, what I need are battle commanders that bring in victories!"

When he had these fits, it was always difficult to say where they'd go, fortunately, the king was able calm down in a timely fashion, even his heavy breathing returned to normal.

"For the woman who bore him, I will give him this last chance. A few more years, you say? He shall have them. But not within my kingdom", the king sat down and opened one of the folders on his desk, going through the sheets at a rapid pace until he found what he was looking for. He ripped said sheet out of if it and handed it to Stone.

"He is to embark on .. what shall we call it? A journey? No, on his warrior trials. And he shall not return until three years have passed, this is the time I'm granting him to prove himself as a true heir to my name."

By now, Stone and Avian were looking at the paper the king had given to them, both frowning.

"Your Majesty is giving him one of the Black Ships? They have not yet been tested in battle, let alone be put under continious strain."

"I'm well aware of that, Stone. Additionally to the ship's crew, he is allowed to take a cohort of his own choice with him, that and an uncustomised raid suit with blank insignia. Furthermore, his initial budget will amount to 200 million belly, everything else he needs, he has to work for himself. Yes, he has to work for it. I don't care if he employs himself and his soldiers as a mercenary company or starts to raid villages and islands. He shall not be allowed to display our national emblem which also has to be erased from all the uniforms and from everywhere within and on the ship, he shall not be allowed to even think the name 'Vinsmoke' for the duration of his trial. Only if he is somehow forced to bargain with the Marines or some other representative of the World Government, he is allowed to reveal my family's name to the highest authorities.", he stopped for a moment to think about any further instructions.

"If the boy is dumb enough to allow his ship to be captured, the omega protocol is to be applied on the ship itself, the whole crew and every soldier on board. And remind him that if he has the nerve to return after losing it, he will be tried for high treason.

Additionally, if he has to hire more troops for whatever reason and they have to travel on the ship or get any chance to work with and understand Germa military technology, all of them have to be put to the sword after their work is done. As his military instructor and the supervisor of his physical development, you shall both go with him.

I expect bi-weekly reports from both of you and him, his target is to aspire at least one military engagement per month to prove his worth as a military commander, a strategist and an heir to my name. Do we understand each other? Stone? Avian?"

I actually thought it would take a lot more persuasion to send us with him, Stone contemplated and finally nodded. Avian did the same.

"As Your Majesty wishes, we shall leave harbor on the Marauder in approximately ten hours from now."

Chapter I: Teasers

They knew! They always knew!, she thought as every possible worst outcome happened at once. She fell to her knees, wanted to beg Arlong to spare them, she wanted to promise that she would start all over again. But there was no reasoning with the pirate. In his mind, the villagers had to be eradicated for their disrespect, and now was the time to commence.

"SHAHAHAHAHAHA! You better say your good-byes, Nami! Come dawn, there will not be a human soul left in this rotten village!"

Thundering cannons shattered the silence as both opposing forces were about to confront each other. The villagers of Cocoyashi on one side, Arlong's Fishmen Pirates on the other with her inbetween, unable to stop it.

They would have slaughthered her friends, her family, if not for the sudden interruption caused by larger weaponry than she had ever witnessed, fixed to a menacing black ship that was as large as every marine ship she knew of.

The fighting around her was still in full swing, yet she only had eyes for the duel that Arlong fought with whom she thought must be the leader of these men. His movements were too fast for her eyes to follow and it seemed that he was toying with the imposing sawshark, easily avoiding every slash of his sword, taunting him with it and the words he spoke.

"Don't worry, fish, you are not going to die today, neither are your men. There's a bounty of 20 million on your head, did you know that?", the blonde man said, delivering another small cut to the fishman's face before he could even lift his sword.

By now, Arlong was too exhausted to answer. Nami realised that the swings of his sword lost their speed and ferocity, it was only a question of time when he was going to fall. Bleeding from dozens of wounds, this duel would be over very soon.

"As for your fellow fish, they will not be harmed. You do know that fishmen are traded for around a million per fully functional individual, right? People like how much work they can shoulder."

"This one is mine, now. Take her back to the ship, bathe her and put her in something nice to look at."