Future Alternate Universe. Meaning It's set in the future of current canon but will undoubtably become an alternate universe depending on Oda-sensei's plot line and twists.
Mainly OC fic, but Canon Characters will show up. A few will play apart of the story.
Warnings: implied rape (nothing graphic) and death, life threatening injuries, a lot of exposition ...
Setting Sail
30 years after the Great Revolution and the claiming of One Piece by the second Pirate King, the world was peaceful. The Marines had weeded out corruption and the new World Government had displaced the Tenryubito, and made slavery absolutely illegal. Bounty Hunters had to be licensed, and preferably, work in teams.
That's not to say there wasn't trouble. While the Marines were more moral, Cipher Pol retained some rather shady characters. The now displaced Tenryubito were, of course, outraged, especially those that had their 'entertainment' ventures (slaves) not only taken away, but also put against them as charges, causing more than one to be sent to Impel Down.
Yes, the great prison still remained, though minus the unnecessary torture, and with the chance for some of the inmates on the top levels to be allowed their freedom. Some of the more skeptical took bets on how long such a system would last.
Enies Lobby, destroyed over 30 years ago, had also been rebuilt, its convict jury replaced by random selection of men (and women); the hanging judges removed and men known for their discernment placed instead.
On the other hand, Marejois was destroyed, razed to the ground. Some historical information the Tenryubito had hoarded (for what purpose, none could guess) was rescued. (Including, Ironically, plans for the weapon Pluton. They were burned.)
Keeping with the mix of old and new, Pirates were seperated into two catergories. Peace Maines, adventurers and those that simply wished to be a pirate for the freedom, who also pledged themselves to the Pirate King. Morgainas, on the other hand, were the cruel pillaging kind, and claimed allegiance to the Dark King- a pirate who had made it to One Piece, and, depending on the story, lost to the true pirate king, or chose not to acknowledge him, creating his own (or her own, no one had ever seen who it was) darker empire, complete with slave trafficking. (Rumor had it that the Pirate King hated slavery with a passion, and the easiest way to learn who was a Morgaina and a Tenryubito sympathiser was to watch their reaction to the idea of slavery.)
While the Dark King was a complete mystery, the Pirate King was only partly one. 20 years after claiming One Piece, he sent out a challenge. Whoever could find One Piece and defeat him in combat, would be the next Pirate King!
"Woop-dee-doo." A young bounty hunter closed the history book with a snap. "Like anyone is going to beat the strongest man in the world." The Ages of Pirates by R. Nico had turned out to be just as boring as she suspected.
"Move it, Danz, we don't have all day!" Her team leader shouted at her. With a soft huff she put the book in her bag, and moved out on deck, glancing at the West Blue Island they had docked at the night before.
Her team leader was a portly man, but a crack shot with a rifle. Many a foe who had dismissed him on the grounds of his looks, soon found a bullet in their body. Whatever his name was, Danz didn't actually know, he had one too many aliases he kept using out of paranoia some pirate would want revenge. She usually just called him Skipper.
"Move." Their helmsman and Navigator was a large man, supposedly from a place in North Blue, though his dark skin made her (and in particular, her father's teachings of the world) doubtful. He scared her, mostly because his size was such that one of his hands could wrap around her neck, easily snapping it. She only ever called him 'Sir'. He and Skipper were good friends, she had seen them laughing together over drinks in most every tavern they visited.
The other two members of the team were twins, 18 years old. Despite one being a girl, Danz had never connected, mostly because they kept to themselves. Both were good with swords. And the girl was more than willing to play a decoy, being rather beautiful with raven hair and sun-kissed skin, and capable of walking in heels on a wave tossed boat, and even fighting in them. Danz didn't call them anything.
Danz on the other hand, was 20, an average shot with a pistol and used the knife on her belt for practical purposes instead of fighting. Her hair was a shade too light to be brown, but a shade too dark to be blonde; her eyes, when she described herself generously, were hazel. When she wasn't, they were muddy brown. She only ever got freckles from sun-bathing, and she was clumsy even in her bare feet. The only noticeable/distinguishing feature that kept her from never being noticed was a tattoo.
It had been a result of drinking with some Marines after a case. It was primarily a circle with a few points emerging out, vaguely resembling points of a compass. It was a greenish-gray color and it covered her right eye. It went to the middle of her right temple, just over the eyebrow, didn't touch her nose, and only extended downwards to the top of her cheek bone.
Shockingly, her father had only been a little disapointed (because it was on her face, not somewhere she could hide it) and her mother had been completely supportive. She had been sure they would have been horrified and upset.
"Alright team, here's the case, we've got a pirate crew washed out from the Grandline and they're bothering the villages. They're not sea based, instead, they've given up the sea and now have a base in the interior jungle." Skipper pointed to the areas marked in red on the map. "We're not sure where, but these are the most likely places, right around the extinct volcano. We'll be teaming with the Marines for this one," Groans from the twins interupted him, but he gave them a glare, "There's no Marine Base on the island, and they only sent one ship. We cannot take on a hundred men by ourselves so we'll be working together. Do. Not. Complain."
"Aye aye, Captain!" both Twins saluted.
Skipper turned his gaze on Danz. She wished she could raise an eyebrow, but sadly, both tended to go up. She just nodded, promising to keep out of trouble. "Then let's go."
"Hold, Danz." Sir stopped her, and suddenly she had a black cowboy hat on her head. The strap that would help keep it on ended up hung up on her nose. "Last thing you need is sun getting in your eyes."
"Thank you?" She blinked up at him, startled by the sudden gift and absently adjusting the strap so that went below her chin.
A flash of very white, very strong looking teeth. "You need to stop being so scared of the world, Danz, only a few will try to hurt you, most will ignore you, and some will love you, if you'd let them." With that, he picked up a staff and jumped to the pier.
Danz followed him, a little red. They all followed Skipper to the town square where the marines were waiting.
"Captain Omen!" The figure in the captains coat turned, revealing a very tough looking woman, with hard lines on her face indicating years of work on highseas. Her brown hair had natural highlights from hours in the sun.
"You're 20 seconds late." She informed Skipper, studying them. "The one with the tattoo lacks a partner, you said?"
"Yes Ma'am." Skipper nodded. Danz wanted to kick him. That's how he described her to a Marine Captain, as the one with the tattoo? He could have at least used her name!
"Hmm." Omen turned her attention on Danz for a moment. Danz decided that she was terrifying, her sea-blue eyes seemed to see right through her. "1st Lieutenant Cooper."
"Ma'am!" A young man with deeply tan skin, black hair, and an officer's uniform stepped forward at attention.
"You will partner with Bounty Hunter Danz. We move out now!"
Danz and 1st Lieutenant Cooper fell to the back of the line. For the first minute, they walked in an awkward silence to the first split off point. Skipper and Sir went with the other half of the Marines.
"So, Ms. Danz, nice weather we're having." 1st Lieutenant Cooper offered.
"I guess." Danz looked at him. Rather than let the conversation fall back into silence, like she would have prefered, she pulled all her courage to keep it going. "I'm Danz, Cassidy, you can drop the 'Miss'." She held out her hand.
"Cooper, J. You can call me Cooper or Joe." He shook her hand with a smile. "Mind if I call you Cassidy?"
"No." They reached the second split off point. The twins went with another group. "Is it really safe to be splitting up like this?" She asked, frowning at the back of the Marine Captain.
"Probably not." Omen had heard the question, making Danz flinch a little guiltily. "But with so much ground to cover, there is no help for it."
"Oh." Danz glanced at Cooper, who gave her a small smile, reassuring her that the question was not a bad one.
"We'll just have to be careful of an- AMBUSH!" A marine yelled as a pirate with a sword attacked him. In seconds, it was chaos. Danz managed to get one of them with a shot to the heart, but had to switch to her knife rather than risk shooting a marine.
Elbowing one pirate in the face, Danz was grabbed by a second one, much bigger. Her stabbing this one in the side apparently did little more than to anger him. And he struck her with enough force that she saw stars as her ears suddenly rang. She might have even blacked out for a moment. When her senses finally came back, she'd been quickly pulled out of earshot from the fight- or it was over, and she couldn't see- and had her hands tied behind her.
She was in trouble. A thought only reimbursed by the sudden fall caused by him letting go. She landed hard on her knees in front of another pirate.
"What the hell, why'd you grab this chit?" The pirate spoke after a moment, glaring at the- still bleeding, Danz noted with glee- one who'd grabbed her.
"Easier to grab." Came the rather dim reply. Other pirates were returning, some with 'souvenirs'. Danz had to resist the urge to bite the hand that was petting her hair, her Hat had fallen to around her neck.
"We needed a Marine, not a no-name bounty hunter!"
"Don't worry Cap- I mean Boss, we got one! He was following Ox, probably to try and rescue the girl!" The skinny Pirate that cheerfully announced the fact dragged Cooper into the clearing, his uniform torn and dirty, and a nasty looking gash on the right side of his jaw. He didn't struggle when they forced him into the center of the group, or to kneel infront of the Captain, but he was glaring at them.
"Good, then I guess the girl can be used for insurance." The captain grinned, revealing missing teeth. "Or if we get bored, it's been a while, I imagine."
"Lovely." Danz muttered, earning a warning look from Cooper.
"Nah, Boss, we have those girls we kidnapped from the villages." The skinny one said, and Danz was yanked to her feet by one arm. The motion caused her some pain, but she didn't make a sound. "Sides, Ox likes her, and you know how he gets."
"Alright, let's move!" The Captain ordered. The pirate crew jumped to obey. Ox picked her up bridal style, oddly enough, while Cooper had a pirate on either side of him. It was a quick hike to a cave, but that wasn't what caused either prisoner to startle; rather, the fact that the Captain raised one hand, and opened a door in the back of it, leading to another tunnel did it. "Welcome to our humble home!"
They were inside of the volcano. And so was the former pirates' ship, which was fhe first thing she noticed. The second was a cave with wooden planks forming bars on either side of a crude door. Scared faces peaked out from between the planks.
"Put them both in the brig, we'll deal with them once we've celebrated!" The Captain announced.
The brig was apparently the only part of the ship not torn up. Danz was shoved into one cell, and promptly had the breath knocked from her lungs as Cooper landed on top of her. The guards apparently not caring to put them in seperate cells.
"Sorry." Cooper managed, pulling himself up. There was a sound of a chain clinking, and Danz noted that he had shackles instead of rope.
"S'alright. Well, not really." Danz corrected. "Now what?"
"I'm still working on that." Both winced as loud music started up, mixing with loud jeers from the pirates, and cries from the women and girls. "We need the rest of the marines, Captain Omen called a retreat, but I saw them grab you."
"Well, in order to do that, we'd have to let them know where we are." Danz leaned back against the wall. "A flare gun would work, but I don't know how to get one."
"Or, one of us escapes, finds a way out, and leads the others here." Cooper leaned back as well, looking at her.
"I might be bound by rope, but there's a huge problem with that plan."
"And that is?"
"I'm a klutz." She closed her eyes, fighting back the urge to throw up. "And I might have a concussion, since I'm rambling. He hit me pretty hard."
"Crap." Cooper muttered. "Your eyes are dialated."
A scream ripped through the air, and Danz absently shrunk against his side. Cooper winced, but let her.
"I'll think of something." He reasurred her, and Danz just gave him a look that said 'I hope so, but just in case you're wrong, I'm not going to blame you'. "Sounds like the party is over." Cooper noted. The music had lessened in volume.
"Not yet, I'm afraid." The captain and the skinny one entered, the Captain leering at Danz. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to borrow your bedwarmer for a bit, my dear."
"What do you want?" The skinny one entered, and pulled Cooper to his feet.
"Just a few questions answered, don't worry, we won't drag the girl into this ... Yet."
Danz lost track of time after that. The party stopped, and she assumed everyone was asleep. Her stomach growled, and she closed her eyes, drawing her legs to her chest. When she exhausted her options for cutting ropes within the cell, she could hear the sounds of people moving outside the ship. Then it went quiet again. This time, she went in and out of conciousness before she heard sounds again (or perhaps during one of her bouts of unconciousness, she'd missed them). By the time of the third silence, she was hungry and thirsty.
"Need a drink?" A voice chirped, startling her. "Down here." A tiny person the size of her fist was standing on her knee and holding a flask. It looked like a tiny woman with a bandana.
"Yes, you're not one of the pirates are you?"
"Nope, I'm on a quest. I just stowed away so I could leave the Grandline. I don't like them much." The tiny person tapped her knee, before holding up a flask. "Going up?"
Danz slowly bent her knee so little person and flask were at a level she could drink from. "Thanks." She said after finishing. "I'm Danz, Cassidy."
"I'm Tiro." The little- Tiro- smiled, sitting on her knee. "You need to do something for your friend, he's been in the captain's cabin for two days, that's never good."
"Right." Danz leaned her head back. "But how do I get him out without disturbing the pirates? I can shoot, but not while carrying someone, and as soon as I fire, all the pirates will notice."
"Hmm, that is a plight." Tiro noted, studying her. "You need a wish! I'll be right back!" Tiro slid down her leg and vanished, flask and all, through a rat hole. Danz closed her eyes. "Hey, no time for sleep!" Danz opened her eyes, blinking in surprise at the odd fruit Tiro had brought with her. "My quest was to find someone worthy of using this devil fruit. It once was used by a bad man, but we of the Tontatta Tribe got it and hid it, so we could one day give the powers to someone to use for good."
"A devil fruit? But if I eat that, I won't be able to swim." Not that she swam anymore. She used to enjoy it, but lately swimming had become too much of a hassle so she stayed on the beach instead.
"I know, but what else have you got to lose? Your friend won't last another day, and if he does, you're next." Tiro pointed out.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Tiro slipped behind her, and Danz eyes watered as feeling started to return to her hands. That hurt worse than the rope. Her hands fumbled for a moment, before picking up the fruit. Taking a deep breath, she bit into it, and promptly gagged. It tasted awful, and at the same time it felt like the first bite had jumped down her throat. Not having been fed, however, she ate the entire thing. "That tasted awful."
"I know." Tiro patted her leg. "Now, what can you do?"
"Well ..." Danz flexed her fingers, feeling as if there were threads around them, then suddenly, she could see them. A flick of her fingers sent them out to wrap around objects, relaxing made them disapear, and a slight flex made them tighten. She could wrap threads between two objects, but those disapeared quicker than the ones on her hands. "I might be able to work this." She stood up, relaxing her hands to dismiss the threads. "Will you help me, Tiro?"
"You bet!" Tiro let Danz pick her up, and put her on her shoulder. "I'm a good shot, don't worry!"
"First things first, let's get the door."
Cooper glared at the wall, trying to ignore the darts in his arm and torso. The needles weren't long enough to pierce organs, but they were barbed so they wouldn't fall out. None had made it lower yet, but that was a matter of time.
Being a dartboard wasn't the worst thing, though, as the more they paid attention to him, the less likely they'd bring Cassidy into this.
Not that she could tell them about Marine patrol schedules, but he'd be less likely to keep silent if she was threatened. She was a innocent caught up in a bad situation.
The pirates had gone out to check on the other marines, and hadn't bothered to leave a guard. So he tensed, jarring the darts, when the door to the captain's cabin suddenly opened.
"Cassidy!" Cooper hissed, trying not to shout just in case there was a guard. "You've got to hurry and get out-"
"Shh." She covered his mouth. "Look, none of us are getting out of here without help." That's when he noticed the small woman on her shoulder. "This is Tiro, she gave me a devil fruit. Long story, but we have to go now." She unlocked the shackles, and Cooper winced as the darts moved. Cassidy noticed. "This might hurt." She broke the darts, leaving the tips in, rather than ripping them out.
"It did." He winced, "Let's go." His attempt to stand didn't go so well, so she slipped under his arm, murmuring an apology as it moved one of the barbs. Tiro slipped over to his other shoulder.
Once off the ship, she hesitated, looking back at the place where the girls were held.
"It's alright, go get help!" One of the more awake ones waved. "Hurry before they get back!"
"..." Cassidy was clearly torn, but turned her back on the cell, heading towards the nearest set of tunnels.
"Okay, the captain ate a door-door fruit or something, he can create doors through anything to anywhere. Killed some guy to get it, but angered the man's friends so he had to flee the Grandline." Cooper informed her as they moved.
"I told her that. He brag to you?" Tiro asked, adjusting her bandana.
"While he was using a door to expose my internal organs, yes."
"You survived?!" Tiro stared at him in shock.
"No, I'm a ghost of a marine- yes I survived." Cooper looked at her in annoyance.
"Huh, death by dehydration doesn't sound so bad now." Cassidy noted, gaining two odd looks. "What?"
An hour later, they were standing in the sun. "And we're out." Cassidy muttered, her body shaking a little from exertion. "Now what?" She looked up, and Cooper blinked in surprise. With how the light fell on her face, her eyes suddenly seemed to be the color of honey, no, wait, he was not falling in love, it was the color of ale. Which he would like, right now. He selectively ignored the part of him that argued for falling in love.
Captain Omen just raised an eyebrow as the two limped into town, leaning on each other, (Tiro choosing to hide). "Report?"
"Hideout is in the volcano, Captain. The pirate captain has eaten the door-door fruit and is capable of creating doors anywhere and through anything. While in captivity, they starved Cas- Ms. Danz, and she ended up eating a devil fruit as well, which helped us escape." Cooper winced as a barb widened a wound. "There are village girls and women imprisoned in there."
"Get this man to the infirmary." Captain Omen caught the bounty hunter. "My condolences, Ms. Danz. The rest of your team is dead." Omen ignored the groans from her subordinates. She had never been good at breaking the news of someone's death.
"Wha?" Judging from partial question and the look the bounty hunter gave, she didn't quite believe her. Omen figured that was partly due to the fact her body was trying to quit on her. A devil fruit didn't make a meal.
"What does your devil fruit do?"
"This." Omen felt the strands wrap around her wrist and tug right before vanishing as the Bounty Hunter almost fell. "Can I sit down?"
"Let's get you to the infirmary first." Omen sighed, pulling her along. She'll explain later, that the hunter's team died trying to take on the pirates to get her back. She was not looking forward to the girl's reaction.
Ta-da! Prologue Done. Don't worry, the captives were rescued and the pirates were killed or taken into custody half-dead. Omen had some seastone cuffs to use.
So far, I've technically killed off Blueno and Doflamingo. This number will probably rise.
Pirate King challenge- due to the revolution, no one really wanted to kill or execute the Pirate King. So he came up with this.
Peace Maines and Morgainas- these are from the first drafts of Romance Dawn. I liked it, and decided it would be a side-effect of the revolution.