Replies to thee Review's (in horrible Shakespearean):
FairyAlchemist400: Thank you! I also can't wait until I write the parts when the crew reunites with Luffy, but I hope I can keep it interesting until then.
Guest: Dang it! I was so close! I knew it was some type of cracker!
drrainbowfish: Thank goodness, I'll keep trying to do my best for all you people's entertainment!
Lightningblade49: Hmm... I did think about revenge for a second, but I don't think you'll find what you're looking for here.
Vuurvlieg: Ah, well, I wouldn't want you to waste your time reading something that is uninteresting to you (especially if it's my story). I'll say thanks for at least giving this story a chance.
Dejdem: Hahaha... I'll keep that in mind (meaning the thought didn't cross my mind at all before... XD)
Chapter 3 - Changing Journeys
There were no more ships. There were no more people. Even while completely desolated, the island still blazed. The fires were roaring like they represented the unfulfilled wishes of the lives lost today. This was the island's last breath. The sight would only be seen by one man.
From a small boat rocking in the restless, empty waters, stood a young man. He jumped off from the boat and landed on the fiery land. With each step, the ground beneath him broke apart.
For a while he had a really bad feeling. He didn't know how to explain it. He had been adventuring and living the life of a pirate as usual, when suddenly a wave 'homesickness' hit him. It wasn't really a feeling of longing to go back home. It was a feeling that there was something wrong with home. He thought it would go away after he fell asleep, but it didn't. So to relieve his feelings of worry he decided to go to the source of it all.
And after a couple days of quick travel with his crew, he arrived here. On an island ablaze and covered with the dead remains of what used to lie here. He told his crew to stay on the ship.
The flames didn't seem to bother him. His focus was set on the burning hearth of the island. Where a large forest, home to many proud creatures, stood, a plethora of flames took its place. The fire wouldn't stop screeching.
The man walked to the front of the vortex of flames covering the forest. His eyes landed on something buried in ashes.
It was a straw hat. A straw hat that had seen many adventures and dangers. It gave an impression of being indestructible, as it was miraculously untouched by the inferno.
The man grabbed the straw hat and patted off the ashes. His fingers gripped the brim of the straw hat. The fingers' grip was so tight acting like the hat could disappear at any moment.
Slowly, he placed it against his chest. His wavy, black hair shadowed the eyes that allowed tears to stream down his freckled face.
So this was the bad feeling.
It was to represent everything he unknowingly lost.
For minutes, he thought if he should just be engulfed by the flames in peace. But if he did, then the life of the island would die. It would be forgotten. The flames were still screeching at him about their unresolved goals. But he only cared about three now.
He turned away, to leave the island that was once known as his home. As if to signal his departure, all the flames started to die down.
Yet a new flame started to burn.
"Oi! Is that… Vice Admiral Garp?"
"There's no doubt about it. It's Garp the Fist! Wonder what he's doing here?"
"Idiot! He's here to eat! This is a restaurant."
Sanji finished cooking yet another meal and he turned his head to look at the gossiping chefs.
"Hey, where are the waiters? Someone has to take his order!" Patty barked as he washed the dishes.
"They all quit," Carne bluntly stated. "Again."
"Then you take his order!" Patty forcefully suggested as he waved a frying pan around.
"I'm not talking to a Vice-Admiral! I have a past! You do it!" the shorter chef hissed back.
"No, you do it!
"You!"
Sanji cooly pushed past the arguing chefs and headed toward the exit of the kitchen.
"I'll do it," the blonde chef announced, completely surprising all the chefs in the kitchen.
"Eh? Sanji?" They all knew Sanji wasn't the type to volunteer to be a waiter. Especially for a man.
Sanji calmly approached the old man. He held up a pen and a notebook. "May I take your order," he asked, unusually civil.
Garp snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at the blonde young man. He then focused his attention to someone else walking in the distance, approaching him.
"If it isn't Red Leg Zeff," Garp announced, completely ignoring Sanji.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Garp the Fist?" the Head Chef crossed his arms as he tried to detect the intentions of the Vice-Admiral.
Sanji indifferently stood still. He could use this chance to gather information about what was going on with the world. He knew something obviously changed, as he didn't remember a visit from the Vice-Admiral, but he didn't know what it was.
"I thought I would visit an old enemy and take his food," Garp smirked emptily. Truthfully, he just didn't want to be around the Marines right now. "I'm also en route to a certain island, or, what was an island."
His eerie last words sparked chills in the bodies of the two listeners.
"Was an island?" Zeff furrowed his eyebrows."Don't tell me you Marines did something stupid again."
Garp's silence was enough to answer Zeff's question. Sanji tried not to make his facial expression change as he wondered what it was.
"Yes… the island is no more. There's going to be a memorial service held there soon," Garp was visibly shaking. "Some friends and my grandson were living there during the attack. I don't know who's safe and who's dead..."
Zeff, with no emotion showing on his face, stared at Garp in silence. He knew Garp wasn't one to talk about his past, especially to pirates, let alone former pirates.
Sanji stiffened as he looked at the Vice-Admiral. He could feel feelings of fear and regret radiate off the old man.
"Heh…" Garp chuckled hollowly as he slowly stood up from his seat. "I guess I wasn't hungry after all.
Before Garp exited the room, Sanji mustered out a voice, "Wait."
It was quiet, but it caught the attention of both old men.
"Please, take me with you," Sanji requested, earning confused looks from the old-timers. "I have a friend who lives— lived there."
Zeff curiously eyed his employee. He didn't remember the little eggplant ever making any friends ever. He nodded, giving the brat his approval of going.
The Vice-Admiral shrugged and was about to deny, but he saw a determined look in the young chef's eyes. It reminded him of his grandson's eyes.
"Okay."
After his co-workers surrounded him and barraged him with questions about his suspicious behavior, Sanji boarded the ship. He didn't really look back at his former home and workplace, since he knew he was going to come back shortly. He ignored the fact that the chefs were fake crying about never seeing him again. They were just fooling around though.
He could see a few marine soldiers on the ship. It seemed like there were fewer than there should be.
"Understaffed?" he asked.
"I only brought people who needed to come," Garp replied.
Once he stood firmly on deck of Garp's marine ship, he felt a very familiar and annoying presence. It reminded him of a certain Marimo.
"Shitty Swordsman!" Sanji growled as he looked at the green haired man who was silently sitting against the railing, "What are you doing here?"
Zoro slowly opened his eyes and saw Sanji. He then closed his eyes. "I should ask you the same thing, crap Cook. Don't you know that this is a Marine ship?"
Sanji's swirly eyebrow twitched. He's too stubborn and too much of an idiot to hold a conversation with!
Garp noticed the two's strange interaction. He scratched head as he had a perplexed look plastered on his face. "You know him?" Garp asked.
"I'd be happier if I didn't" Sanji shrugged as he frowned at the yawning swordsman. "What's he doing here?"
Garp scratched his beard. "Well… I don't know the details, but… Once I set sail from some island, I found that this brat stowed away on my ship. It appears that he mistook this ship as a fisherman's boat."
Sanji just stared dumbfoundedly at Zoro. "THIS IS THE SECOND FUCKING TIME! First it was a pirate ship, now it's a Marine ship, how much dumber can you get?"
Zoro's eyes flew open as he growled, "Shut up curly brows!"
The Swordsman bitterly remembered how, after learning about the Dawn Island incident, he resolved to get as strong as fast as inhumanely possible. So he set off his island— much to the protest of his teacher— and tried finding some tough opponents. However, he got caught up in a horrible storm, which was rare in the East Blue, and he got shipwrecked on some island he had never set foot on, even in his Pirate Hunter days— Or maybe he did, he just didn't remember. Since he was starving, he asked a man if he could use a fishing boat to fish. He somehow ended up on a Marine ship and it set sail before he could do anything. It sounded like one of those stories Usopp would make up: an unbelievable story. Only, it became believable when it involved Zoro.
"Oh, it's on!" Sanji yelled as he lifted his leg. He'd finally put this Marimo in his place. There were no usual flames, since his past body couldn't handle that power yet.
Zoro rose up and unsheathed two of his swords. "Bring it!"
Before they could actually fight, Garp ended the both of them with his fists. The two proved to be no match for the more ruthless form of his fist of love. "You guys really remind me of my grandson," he muttered as he ordered the marines to prepare to set sail.
Zoro and Sanji stayed sprawled out on the deck as they reminisced about their captain. They thought about the very different situation from the previous timeline. Luffy plus a destroyed home island did not bode well for their future adventure.
Then they thought about the pain throbbing in their bodies.
Luffy might be hurting way worse. Or he might just be fine. In any scenario, they had to get stronger.
So when they start their adventure alone.
So they could continue it together.
And so they would all be standing when it ended.
Success, Nami thought as she sailed under a beautiful sunset. She had just stolen a bunch of treasure from a few unfortunate pirates. It was so much easier to do so, with her knowledge and experience of the 'future'.
Once again, she was piling up a fund to buy back Cocoyashi village, but this time, she had no intention of giving the money to Arlong. The fishman had no intention of keeping the promise anyway. Oh, she could not wait for the boys to beat him up again and savour the look of Arlong's face of defeat once again.
Nami caught a glance of a Pirate ship headed her way. The mark on the sail looked familiar, and it sent an odd feeling through her body, but she ignored it.
She was about to continue to mind her own business, but she heard a very familiar voice call out to her from the ship.
"OIIII! NAMIIIII!"
It couldn't be, Nami sweated. She glanced at the helm of the ship, to find a familiar long nosed sniper waving at her.
"Usopp?" she gasped in surprise. To her knowledge, Usopp wasn't supposed to be on any pirate ships this early, since he was too much of a coward to go sailing with real pirates back then.
"IT REALLY IS YOU!" Usopp yelled in glee, while gaining the attention of the other pirates in the ship.
"Oi Usopp, you know her?" A man with curly dark blonde hair asked. He was wearing a headband with the letters 'YASOPP' written on it. "Is she your girlfriend? Oh, my boy has grown up so fast~"
"Dad!" Usopp lightly punched the man and tried to conceal a faint blush on his face.
"AS IF!" Nami yelled angrily.
"Oh right. That girl, Kaya, is your girlfriend, right?" Yasopp grinned.
"DAD!" Usopp covered his face with his hands as his father laughed, along with other pirates who eavesdropped on the conversation.
"BWAHAHA, HE'S SO INNOCENT!" the other pirates on deck laughed.
"Oh, but what's your connection to that girl anyway?" Yasopp asked.
"She's," Usopp suddenly straightened up and had an air of confidence around him. "My future crewmember!"
"What does she do?" one of the pirates, Lucky Roo, asked while munching on a large piece of meat.
"Nag."
The long nosed sniper suddenly had the lights literally kicked out of him as Nami suddenly appeared on the ship and swung a kick at his face… breaking his nose in the process. Usopp collapsed onto the floor in agony.
Nami wore a crooked smile as her eyebrows twitched in annoyance. "It's only been four days and you suddenly have the audacity to say that, huh?"
All the other pirates paled in fear.
"I- so sorry…" Usopp groaned.
Nami suddenly stiffened. She realized that her habit of hitting her crewmates for being annoying has led her to get on board this unfamiliar ship. She turned to the pirates and her eyes drifted toward the sail again. Her memory sparked.
"Th— THIS IS RED HAIR SHANKS' SHIP!" she screamed in surprise and slight fear. Sure, Luffy was good friends with him, and Usopp's dad was in his crew… but after brushing with death with the other Yonkos, she couldn't help to feel a little scared.
"It's fine Nami," Usopp consoled her. "They won't hurt us."
"Ah, but," the navigator faced her friend. "What are you doing here? Why? How? I thought we had an agreement to not do anything drastically different. If you don't call this different then I don't know what is."
"Well… " Usopp lowered his head. "It's regarding Luffy… You see, he may have gotten caught up in a Buster Call."
Nami's eyes widened in shock. Buster Call? Like the one at Enies Lobby? Sure they survived it, but they were strong and together... and they still needed miracles to escape one.
"There's apparently a funeral being held for all the lives that were lost that day on that island. That's where this crew is going. They stopped by at my island, and I asked if I could come with them after resolving some other matters," Usopp said. Those other matters involved his dead mom and his father, but he wasn't going to disclose such delicate matters, especially now.
"So you're part of Luffy's crew too?" Lucky Roo asked, while continuing to munch down on a piece of meat.
Nami looked bewildered at the question. How would he know? How could anyone outside of the crew know? He narrowed her eyes at Usopp. "You told them?"
Usopp leaned close and whispered to her ear, "I only told them as a lie. They think it's just a made up story."
Nami nodded in understanding. It was like Usopp to tell stories that actually happened with a little twist. Like how he retells some of Luffy's achievements as his own. Here, he's telling the truth as a lie. Not like anyone would believe the story anyway, but telling it was probably a good way to vent out some emotions.
"Luffy's crew, huh?"
A voice came from the open door of the captain's quarters. There stood a Yonko. Red Hair Shanks.
He wasn't as intimidating and scary as Big Mom or Kaido or Whitebeard. He looked like an normal man. Or perhaps he could be more closely compared to a normal drunkard. His face was flushed and he looked absolutely dazed. His first-mate, Benn Beckman, had his arms crossed as he shook his head. "Oh Captain, you drank too much this time. Our supply's already almost gone again."
Shanks pouted as he turned to look at his first-mate. "But Bennnnnn… " his words were slow and slurred. "I sssswear, i-it wasn't meee…"
Benn sweatdropped. "Tell yourself that when you get sober."
"Wee'll... just restock at Maki— " Shanks frowned and shook his head. He stumbled toward the two guests, to shift his mind from less unfortunate matters. He looked at both of them intently.
Shivers ran through both Nami and Usopp's spines. They were being sized up by a Yonko. A drunk one at that. Despite meeting him earlier, Usopp still felt a little bit unnerved. He was a drunk Yonko first and foremost in their minds. A terrifying power.
They both tried, but failed, to keep their composure. It was hard to not notice the bullets of sweat that dropped from their chins or the uncontrollable shaking of their bodies.
Shanks suddenly laughed, scaring the crap out of both of them.
"It's good to know that he'll be in good hands then!" the Yonko smiled, still drunk but sounding crystal clear.
"Excuse me?" Nami asked, obviously confused at Shanks' sudden outburst.
"If you're his future crew, then Luffy will be in good hands," he clarified as he walked past them and leaned on the railing of the ship.
"Ignore him, he's drunk," Benn said. Nami and Usopp nodded.
"Will? You think he's alive?" Usopp asked. He didn't believe that Luffy was dead either. They didn't go back in time only for Luffy to die younger.
"He's… gonnabe big," Shanks started to slur his words again as he rested his head on the railing. Yet no word was missed by any of the pirates. "If hedied, then I feellikeI... would know…"
Nami and Usopp both flinced. When Luffy was dying, they didn't have any feelings. They only found out via obvious clues and the vivre card vanishing before their eyes. There was no feeling.
Or maybe there was a feeling. Did they wake up to a different world that day? Did they feel that something was missing? They couldn't remember. And they wanted to make sure they wouldn't be reminded of the feeling.
"Zzzzzzzzzz…."
"Oh, looks like the Captain fell asleep," Lucky Roo stated.
"Good, let's go drink up the rest of the booze before he wakes up!" the pirates cheered.
Benn shook his head in disapproval of the pirates' activities as he warmly smiled. "One more day 'til we reach our destination…"
Usopp looked at Nami. "Are you going to stay and watch the funeral?"
"Yes," Nami nodded solemnly, "Luffy probably won't be there to pay his respects, so let's do it for him."
"He'll be okay…" Usopp said, confident that his Captain will be able to bounce back from this. "It's Luffy, and…"
"When we meet again, we'll help him shoulder it all."
Once the sun set once more, the Red Hair Pirates could see an island that was stained pure black. It was covered with ashes and debris. Surrounded by an atmosphere of death and abandonment, the 'island' looked like it couldn't keep itself together anymore. It was as if it would break down at any moment now.
"What is that?" Usopp gasped at the sight. It looked like a deformed lump of coal floating in the ocean.
"Dawn Island," Yasopp said. "It's a surprise that this much of the island is still there."
Nami and Usopp gaped. Sure, they witnessed a Buster Call firsthand, and they heard the stories from Robin, but they never actually saw the result. Though it should've been obvious, from the amount Enies Lobby had been attacked with and the fact that Robin said that a Buster Call can wipe off an island from a map.
"That's… really horrible," Nami covered her wide opened mouth. She couldn't imagine drawing an island… then learning that that very island was destroyed, like it never existed.
Nami and Usopp had seen enough of the Marine's Justice to know that they're willing to go through great lengths to eradicate what they deemed a huge threat.
From the distance, they saw other ships approaching the island. Most looked like passenger ships filled with people who had connections with the island.
"Ughhhh… I feel horrible…" Everyone turned their heads toward the Captain of the ship, who woke up for the first time in 19 hours.
"You drank so much Captain," Yasopp said. "Our entire supply of booze is gone."
Shanks' eyes widened in disbelief. "No way! We just restocked from Gecko Island just a couple of days ago!"
All the Red Hair Pirates laughed. They would not disclose the fact that they had a drinking party the previous night while he was knocked out.
"HEY!" Shanks yelled, obviously aware that his crew was playing a trick or something.
Nami laughed, but she had a feeling of jealousy swell up in her. She missed the times when the Straw Hat Pirates would have fun and pull numerous pranks on each other. It would be a long time before they would have those fun times together again. She looked at Usopp who seemed to share the same feelings.
They suddenly saw a Marine ship sail right next to the left side of their ship. It was obvious who the ship belonged to, judging from the figurehead of a dog.
"Oi! It's Garp!" one of the Pirates shouted.
The pirates heard a voice from the ship, belonging to the feared Vice-Admiral himself. "Well look here, if it isn't Grandson stealer!" Garp greeted the pirates with a scowl.
"Hmmm?" Shanks turned his head to face Garp from his ship. "What? Come to arrest us?"
"Nope!" Garp grinned. "Just you for being such a bad influence on my dear grandson!"
"Hey!" Shanks yelled. "At least he loved us! I hear he always ran away in terror at the sight of you!"
Nami and Usopp noticed that all the witnesses from the passenger ships were feeling uneasy and scared. And they had all right to be. After all, it's not every day that Garp the Fist and Yonko Red Hair Shanks got into a fight. Heck, it wasn't normal to see a Yonko in these waters.
"Yeah right! I'll show you what true love is!" Garp held his fist up as he glared down at the Yonko.
"Oh yeah?" Shanks taunted as he glared back. "Bring it on!"
"Shanks. You're still drunk… somehow," Benn sighed. "Back off, we're not here for this."
Shanks growled as he kept staring at the Vice-Admiral, but he kept himself restrained.
"You're still such a child sometimes," Lucky Roo laughed.
Nami and Usopp relaxed. They knew a fight between those two would not be so pretty, so being in a such close proximity to the two would not bode well for them. They were surprised when one of their names were called from the Marine ship.
"NAMI-SWAAAAAAAAAN!"
It really couldn't be, Nami sweated. She and Usopp glanced at the helm of the ship, to find a familiar blonde cook with swirly eyebrows.
"Sanji-kun?!" she gasped in surprise. What was he doing on a Marine ship— On GARP'S ship?
"NAMI-SWAAAAAAAAAN!"
"Oi! What about me!" Usopp screamed at the blonde chef, though he should've expected as much.
They saw a couple of heads pop out from the deck of the ship. Most were marines, however, one was Zoro.
"Oh, it's that witch," Nami could somehow hear Zoro mutter.
"DON'T CALL HER A WITCH!" Sanji roared. The two then engaged in combat.
"ZORO TOO?" the two pirates on the pirate ship exclaimed on disbelief. Did they somehow get caught even though they weren't infamous pirates yet?
"WHAT?" It was Garp who screamed. "You scum are friends with those pirates?"
"Uh… yeah…" They forgot that they were on a Marine ship.
"THEN SCRAM!" Garp picked up the Swordsman and the Cook by the scruffs of their necks and launched them toward the Red Hair Pirates ship with insane strength.
The two were powerless as they flew and created large holes in the deck of the ship.
"ACK! GARP'S TRYING TO SINK OUR SHIP!" one of the Red Hair Pirates screamed.
"Okay! That's it! I'm going in!" Shanks yelled as he attempted to attack the Marine ship, however, he was restrained by many of his crew members.
"Give it a rest, Shanks," Benn rolled his eyes, but he still smiled.
Now started some explosive bickering between a Vice Admiral and a Yonko.
"Ah," Nami gasped as she looked at the two holes in the deck. "Sanji-kun? Zoro? Are you okay?"
Suddenly, a blonde man in a black suit leaped out of the hole and swooned over to Nami. "YES! SORRY FOR WORRYING YOU, NAMI-SWAN! " It had truly been forever— five days— since he last saw the beautiful maiden.
"Yeah, don't do it again," Nami sweat-dropped. It had been a while since she saw Sanji do this. "By the way, what were you doing on Garp's ship?"
"We hitched on for a ride," Zoro muttered as he climbed out of the hole in annoyance.
"For the memorial service?" Usopp asked.
The two men nodded.
"Ah, but it sure has been a while. It's nice to see you all again," Usopp grinned, even though it had only been almost six days now.
"I don't care about you bastards! I'm just happy I can see Nami-san's face again!" Sanji proclaimed.
"Oi, it wouldn't hurt to show a little concern for us, you know," Usopp sweatdropped.
"Like I need that pathetic cook to look worried for me," Zoro snorted.
"What was that? You shitty swordsman! I can arrange for a way for no one to ever worry about you!" Sanji yelled as he tapped the floor with his foot, getting a feel for how stable the floor with two holes was.
"What a coincidence! I have a way for you too!" Zoro snarled as he grabbed his katanas.
"STOP IT RIGHT THERE!" Nami yelled as she pummeled both of the men. "Geez, can't you be civil around each other for even one second?"
"Never," both of them replied simultaneously.
"Things never change," Usopp laughed as sweat was visible from his face.
"Huh? Isn't that the Yonko, Shanks?" Zoro questioned as he finally laid his eyes on the red haired man.
"You only now just realize?" Nami raised her eyebrow in annoyance.
"Shitty swordsman was too entranced by me," Sanji snickered, while feeling a bit disgusted at what he said.
"Only in your dreams," Zoro spat. "Like you have any captivating characteristics that would work on anyone."
"Oi! You really want to die now, huh?" Sanji yelled.
"Like I could die to you!" Zoro shouted.
The two were once again pummeled down by Nami. Usopp took a step away from her. "Ah, I forgot how scary she was…"
"What was that, Usopp?" Nami slowly turned to face Usopp with a sinister grin.
"NOTHING!" Usopp screamed.
"Mellorine~! You're still beautiful when you're angry!" Sanji quickly recovered as he swooned around the pirate thief. He then suddenly had a nose bleed. "Does this mean… that I get to see you develop into the mature woman you'll be first hand?!"
"As perverted as ever, Ero-cook," Zoro rolled his eyes.
"Changing the topic," Usopp slowly said. "What do you guys think about the sudden change in events?"
The others fell silent. There would have been a tense atmosphere if it weren't for the Vice Admiral and Yonko comedically arguing in the background, to everyone else's peril.
"I can only assume that the Cyril guy is behind this," Zoro said.
The other two agreed. Seemed like the only plausible explanation if the man was so bent on killing Luffy.
Nami rubbed her temples as she thought about the more important subject at hand. "If he did this, then he has gone insane like that fate guy said could happen. This means we can expect more things like this, or worse than this, to happen," she sighed. "This is not good."
Sanji took out a cigarette and lit it. "If we believe that fate guy, then Luffy's safe… at least until he meets one of us. He'll be alive. And we know that we'll reunite someday."
"Right," Zoro agreed with the cook for once. "We didn't go back in time only for Luffy to die before he even did anything."
"Speaking of fate…" Nami said as a new concern struck her. "What do you think of our fate right now? Do you think it's just a coincidence, that the four of us are here together?"
"There's no way. We're not that lucky," Sanji said. "Maybe we're being given another chance to rethink our plans… since things have obviously changed…"
"Yeah, but we're probably not going to meet up with the rest. We'll have to make a decision without them. Doesn't that seem unfair?" Usopp asked.
"Well, it's usually that captain who makes these decisions, but we've been most unfair to him by bringing him into a messed up world. I'm sure the others can handle some 'unfairness'," Zoro shrugged.
Nami sighed while putting her hand against her face. "This is so messed up. I was hoping that we would just relive the same adventure as last time, but that's probably not going to be the case…"
"Well, that's Luffy for you," Sanji snickered. "I don't know what happened on that island, but it's possible that he may have been the main cause for this change of events. It's like it's his gift to us. To not have a boring and 'predictable' adventure."
"He always did like not knowing what was ahead of him. Staying in his crew means we can't know what the future has in store for us either," Zoro smiled. "Cool, I thought I'd be bored for these five years."
"It might be fun for you guys, but I thought we could have an easy life for once," Usopp sighed.
"Never on this crew," Zoro smirked.
Sanji laughed, "What kind of brave warrior of the sea signs up for an easy life?"
That shut Usopp up.
Nami leaned over against the railing, while being greeted by the many more dozens of ships arriving at this memorial service. "But still, Luffy might not be the same when we meet him again. Like, what if he becomes like one of those dark, brooding characters or something?"
"This is Luffy we're talking about… Luffy will be Luffy," Zoro said. "And even if he doesn't want us on his crew, we'll still follow him… one way or another. We didn't come here to create a world where he never meets us."
"I know, I know," Nami groaned. "But so many things could go wrong."
Usopp laughed "How is this any different from our previous adventures?"
Nami let out a small laugh, broken free from all the worrying for just a second. "I suppose you're right."
"So what's the plan now?" Zoro asked the obvious question that flooded their minds.
Before any of them could answer, another ship sailed right next to the Red Hair ship. It had a very familiar mark on its sail.
"Hey! Isn't that one of Doflamingo's marks?" Nami gasped as Usopp screamed at a sight more terrifying. He pointed at two people standing on the deck of the ship.
The others were shocked beyond belief as well.
"Doflamingo and— " Zoro exclaimed.
"Crocodile!?" Sanji's cigarette fell out of his mouth.
Usopp gripped his head in stress as she screamed, "WHAT ARE THEY DOING TOGETHER?"
"I'm pretty sure they didn't get along in the previous timeline," Nami muttered as she carefully eyed the two Shichibukai.
"Doesn't look like they're getting along now," Zoro said as he pointed out the fact that Crocodile looked bored and annoyed while Doflamingo was maliciously smiling as he stared at the island.
The presences of the two Shichibukai was brought to the attention of the pirates and marines. Shanks and Garp were also broken away from their argument at the new development. A collective gasp of shock was heard.
"The fu— "
"They couldn't be here just to 'mourn'."
"They're planning something."
Among the more normal people were questions like how could one island be connected to the infamous Vice-Admiral, a Yonko, and two Shichibukai.
Whispers of the like spread throughout everyone in the memorial service. Doflamingo seemed amused at this reception while Crocodile looked like he wondered how he got involved in this situation.
All the voices were hushed when another, but very extravagant, ship appeared.
"What?! Now Celestial Dragons?" Usopp gasped, but he kept his voice at a quiet level.
"I heard that a few Celestial Dragons were killed in the incident," Zoro said.
"WHAT? What sort of idiot would do that?" Nami wanted to scream, but the whole area was now quiet, so her voice would definitely heard.
"It was an idiot," Zoro remembered the accounts of all the survivors of the incident. "They said a boy with a straw hat shot him."
"You mean— "
"We know Luffy doesn't shoot people. However, he really did end up in the center of this whole mess," Zoro said.
A Celestial Dragon stood at the front of the ship, visible to everyone like he wanted to announce to everyone.
"I'm glad this island's destroyed!" he proclaimed loudly, his voice was missed by no one. Restrained tension rose from everyone else.
"It was a breeding ground for monsters that killed my brothers and sisters!"
Nami covered her ears. She didn't want to hear such words of hypocrisy. They were the ones that were monsters that killed so many people's families.
The Celestial Dragon's pet dog then proceeded to pee in the water right in front of the island.
"They never cease to sicken me," Sanji muttered.
That appeared to be all the Celestial Dragons wanted to do as the ship already started to turn around and leave.
"That's it?" Usopp exclaimed in disgust. "They only came to spit in the face of everyone who lost something here from the incident? They didn't even pay any respects to their own that died."
"We've seen them do worse," Zoro said.
After that scene by the Celestial Dragons, the rest of the attendees stayed silent. Since it was already silent, they might as well have the moment of silence now. Some dropped flowers or items of significance onto the island.
After a while, more ships started to leave, signalling the end of this memorial service. The whole thing wasn't ideal, since it started with powerful world figures arguing and ended with a Celestial Dragon spitting in everyone's faces. But, it was the thought that counted.
Sanji looked back at Garp's ship, then looked at the retreating figures of the other ships. "You know, it's weird, how only one Marine ship — with barely a normal amount of marines on it— was here. You'd think they'd apologize for going too far or something."
"They want to keep a good front. The majority of the world probably don't know that the Marines were responsible for this," Nami muttered.
Soon, the pirate ship of Doflamingo and Crocodile left. The pirates carefully watched the ship leave. Surprisingly, they did nothing extreme.
"That was anticlimactic. What do you think they got out of this?" Usopp asked.
"Nothing good," Zoro answered.
After the Vice-Admiral exchanged deadly glares with the Yonko one last time, Garp's ship was next to leave.
As the Marine ship drifted back towards the Grand Line, it intersected paths with a small sailboat. No one expected that the sail boat would line up next to the hulking Marine ship. The man on the sailboat then proceeded to board the Marine ship to all of the Marines' surprise.
"What do you want?" Garp growled, though he took note that the man did not look like a pirate. The man dressed in clothes expected of a normal civilian, but what made Garp feel uneasy was the fact that this man had a perfectly symmetrical face. It was unnatural, no one was born with a perfectly symmetrical face.
The man grinned as he stared at Garp with determined, but malicious eyes.
"I want to join the Marines," the man said.
Garp narrowed his eyes, something told him he should stay cautious around this man. "Your name is?"
"Cyril."
The only ones left were the Red Hair ship and a couple of small passenger ships.
Usopp and Nami released the breaths they didn't know they were holding. That was an intense memorial service.
"So…" the Straw Hat Pirates' attention was drawn to Shanks, the one who broke the silence. "You're all part of Luffy's future crew?"
Both Sanji and Zoro raised eyebrows in confusion. Nami eased their confusion by revealing that Usopp told the pirates some 'made up' stories.
"Yeah," they all said with pride.
Shanks, who now seemed fully sober, eyed them curiously before he suddenly laughed. "Dahahaha! You must all be idiots!"
They opened their mouths to argue, but they couldn't really disagree.
"WE ARE!" They really were idiots, but they were damn proud about it since it brought the best thing they could never regret into their lives.
All the pirates laughed at what the Straw Hat Pirates admitted to.
"Who's your first mate?' Benn asked.
"Don't have one," Zoro smirked.
"Sounds just like Luffy to not follow the classic rules of pirating," Shanks chuckled.
"Wait, don't tell me you actually believe Usopp's story?" Sanji raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I not believe my son?" Yasopp grinned as he brought his son in for a hug.
"Oi, oi…" Nami sweatdropped. "You might need more father-son bonding time…"
"Luffy always said that he'd get a crew that surpassed my own. You all look like you're growing to fit that part," Shanks smiled. "Plus, you all look like you all care for him whenever he's mentioned."
"Thanks?" Nami said to the first part. She didn't deny the second part.
"Say, we might as well do his crew a favor," Shanks said, looking directly at the crew. "We'll drop you off anywhere you'd like."
The Straw Hat Pirates then looked at each other uneasily. With the Dawn Island incident, the world was sure to completely change one way or another. Witnessing Doflamingo and Crocodile on the same ship together was proof of just a piece of that. And even with a changed timeline, they were sure to face those two again. If they wanted to be fully prepared, they had to be stronger than they had been when they first started this adventure.
Yet such a task would be hard to do if they stayed in the weakest sea.
"I'll stay at my island," Usopp spoke. "I have to prevent that black cat butler from getting what he wants. Plus, we need to make sure we get the Merry back"
"I also have to stay since I have to deal with Arlong…" Nami said.
"Why don't I just kick Arlong's butt?" Sanji suggested, to present Nami with different opportunities and to get her out of her 'slavery' early.
"Hmm…" Nami thought about it.
"I'm staying at the restaurant," Sanji declared. "As much as I'd like to piss Owner Zeff off, I can't have him worrying about me. I'll stay until that old geezer knows I'll be following a man he can trust."
"Hmph, better learn to cook real food since your fighting's going to be useless," Zoro snickered.
"Shut up," Sanji growled. "I have a feeling I'll be getting pretty tough customers in the future. I can train by beating them all up."
Nami sweatdropped. Well, training was training.
"I'm going to the Grand Line," Zoro announced, receiving gasps of shock and concern from the crew.
"O-oi, are you sure about that Zoro?" Usopp looked at the green-haired swordsman incredulously. "You might somehow end up in the New World and somehow find One Piece or something."
"You really have no faith in me."
"Yeah right, you'll just get lost and die in a storm," Sanji rolled his eyes.
"Hey, are you actually worried about me, Crap Cook?" Zoro taunted.
"In your dreams!" Sanji yelled.
"Then…" Nami had a light bulb flash over her head. "I'll go with him, after you guys beat up Arlong."
"WHAT! I can't leave my precious Nami-swan with that idiotic Marimo!" Sanji screamed with disapproval. "I'll go with you!"
"Hey, what was that about not wanting Zeff to worry about you?" Nami sweatdropped.
"That old geezer can protect himself. But I have to protect you!" Sanji argued. "I have to protect you from him!" he pointed at Zoro.
"Oi…" Zoro looked annoyed.
"No! Sanji!" Usopp grabbed the chef's arm. "What about me? If you three all go to the Grand Line, then I'll be the only weakling!"
"Are you saying I'll be a weakling if I stay here?" Sanji growled while Zoro laughed.
"No! I need someone to keep me in shape!" Usopp said. "I'm asking you to train me."
"You won't get much stronger if you train under him," Zoro commented.
"We don't even have a similar fighting style. What could I possibly help you with?" Sanji pointed out.
"That Observation Haki stuff or whatever you call it," Usopp said. "I used it back on Dressrosa. As a sniper, I need to strengthen it as much as possible."
Sanji clenched his teeth. He looked at Usopp, then to Nami. His choice should've been pretty obvious.
"Fine, fine," he surrendered. Whatever will strengthen the crew most so no one dies again.
"Okay! Then it's settled," Nami announced. "Usopp will make me a weapon before we drop him off at his island. Then, we kick Arlong's butt. Then we drop Sanji off at Baratie. Then, we hijack a pirate ship. And finally, Zoro and I will set off in the Grand Line."
"Won't you guys try to tell the others?" Usopp asked.
"If we're lucky," Nami sighed. "But we probably won't be able to get into contact with Robin or Brook for reasons involving the Shichibukai."
"We should be able to get into contact with Chopper and Franky at least," Zoro said.
"As long as your sense of direction doesn't start to act up again," Sanji scoffed.
"We'll be fine… I hope," Nami sweatdropped.
"So that's your decision? Drop you all off at Gecko island and you'll handle the rest?" Shanks raised an eyebrow in amusement. They barely took his offer.
"Yep, we're a pretty self-sufficient crew," Nami smirked.
"Well, we have to be since Luffy's our captain," Usopp sweatdropped.
Shanks grinned along with the other pirates. "Till we see each other again!"
They all raised their arms to the limitless sky.
"At the top!"
That was a pretty hard chapter to write, but I did it! Hopefully it's decent enough.
Question of the chapter: Did Blackbeard attack Drum Island before or after he killed Thatch? It sounds obvious that it should be after... but I see it possible that it's before if no one knew he was secretly a captain of another crew.
Thanks for reading!